Out of Our Hands
by KoniGeorghion
Summary: Is she crazy? He's the cutest boy in school! He's singlehe's in love with herand she's his best friend! Who could ask for more? Hermione is distraught...until she meets up with his brother...
1. Arkensas and A New Home

((A/N: Ah! I'm back! LoL Anyway...yes, I'm here righting yet another story. I must have no life :-D. But that's okay, because this is some **fun** stuff. Anyway...a few things to clear up:  
1) Almost all wizards have entered into the 21st Century as far as Cars are concerned. Fred and George bought their own car, and they also bought one for their parents. I'm just gonna spruce the cars up a little. You know...give 'em some gizmos.  
2) I heard of the city "Hackensack, Arkansas" in a movie called Les Girls...it's old, you may not know it...but I like the name...full of whimsy and fun don't you think?  
3) Read my story...I hope you enjoy it. I hope you get my little jokes. I hope you leave me oodles of comments. I hope you smile when you read my story, but I hope it could potentially have the power to make you cry. I hope you can relate to my story, just like I do. Enjoy.))

* * *

"So—are you going Hermione?"

Hermione looked up from where she was neatly folding her clothes and placing them in her trunk. It was the end of Sixth year, and everyone was getting ready for the summer holidays. Hermione had been expecting to go home—but then she got a letter from her mother saying that since her Father had passed away last year, her mother was going to live with Hermione's grandparents in America—in a little town called Hackensack, Arkansas. Hermione hated her mother's family. They were all stuck-up, snobby, and _hated_ anything out of the ordinary—including Hermione, since she was a witch. They reminded her of the Dursleys—Harry's uncle, aunt, and cousin—and made her shudder every time she thought of them. Her mother had invited her to join, but Hermione had politely declined, and arranged to meet her mother in London in one day in June when her mother came to visit. She hadn't shared the news with Ron and Harry yet, and was still trying to figure out a place she could stay.

"No, I'm not. I don't know where I'm going to stay, but I'm sure not going to Arkansas."

She didn't even look up as she folded a white school blouse and placed it into her trunk. She picked up a blue skirt and was folding it when she heard Ron cross the room and kneel down next to her. He took the skirt away from Hermione and held her small hands in his.

"Come live with my family and me. It'll be great—Harry's coming too. I already asked my parents and they said it'd be fine and Mum seemed kind of excited about it actually."

"Ron…" Hermione looked at her hands, which were trapped in Ron's. Her hands were so small next to his. He had a deep golden tan, while she was pale from being indoors too much. She looked up at his face—and into his big green eyes. Over the last few years, Ron Weasley had certainly gotten very attractive. His hair was still red, but it had lost its carrot top color and settled into a more attractive auburn. His eyes were big and green with flecks of gold scattered around in them, and his lashes were long and full. His freckles still were scattered across his cheeks and the bridge of his nose—they were the only thing Ron was still sensitive about. His arms were fit and well-built, and on the days Hermione accidentally walked in on the boys when they didn't have shirts on, his chest was muscular and toned. She flushed as she returned her gaze to his face and smiled.

"Ron—I can't, I don't want to impose on your family." Hermione knew that wasn't the reason. For all the nights Hermione spent awake, tossing and turning at night, she knew the reason was completely different. For all his charm and gorgeousness, and love for her even, Hermione knew she would never be in love with Ron. She never could—she wanted something more. Something she and Ron would never have. Ron shook his head at her reply.

"No, you're coming. If you don't, Mum will be broken hearted. Come Hermione—you need to be with people who love you." Hermione's tore her eyes away from Ron's, they looked like they were about to explode from emotion, and nodded her head.

"Okay," she whispered, "I'll come."

* * *

"_Goodbye! Bye Lav! Bye Dean!_ _**C'mon Ginny**!"_

Hermione waved from Platform 9 ¾. She watched as they all got in their cars,and drove away, waving, or as they flooed home. When everyone was gone, she turned to Ron and Harry, who were waiting for her by the barrier.

"C'mon Hermione!" Harry and Ron called, laughing, as she sluggishly walked towards them. She grinned and quickened her pace, skipping the last few steps until she came to a dead halt in front of the two 17 year olds.

"All right already!" She laughed as she swung her book bag higher up on her shoulder. She tapped Ron on the shoulder and wined, "I'm tired—I need a ride." He laughed as he bent his knees and prepared for her to jump on his back. She hopped on and the three—well, two because Hermione was on Ron's back, and Harry was by himself—ran through the barrier together.

"Harry! Ron! _Hermione_!"

The minute they got through the barrier, Mrs. Weasley jumped on them. She threw her arms around Ron, kissing him noisily on both cheeks, and asked him how he was.

"You look pale," She said, "Probably from studying too much indoors." Ron threw a look over at Harry and both boys grinned and snickered as she moved past Ron towards Harry. "How are you dear—you're too thin—but don't worry, I'll feed you up." She patted him on both cheeks, and then turned to Hermione. While the boys joined Mr. Weasley and Fred and George, Mrs. Weasley put a strong arm—the arm of a woman who worked for her family—around Hermione's shoulders and pulled her into a huge hug.

"How are you dear? Are you alright? Ron told me about your father, and mother moving, and, oh, I'm so sorry." She hugged her again, and Hermione forced a smile.

"I'm fine Mrs. Weasley. Thank you for letting me stay here this summer; you don't know how much it means to me."

"It's a delight having you Hermione. You know I think of you as my own daughter." Mrs. Weasley gave Hermione an expectant smile and sighed happily. Hermione was tired of everyone assuming she was going to marry Ron and become a Weasley. Just like everyone expected Ginny to marry Harry, everyone expected Hermione to marry Ron. It made Hermione so depressed sometimes—she'd just want to curl up and cry. She knew she'd never love Ron in that way—he was just her best friend—a chum—a mate. She was about to speak up about it when Ginny popped up out of no where and hugged her.

"Seamus asked me to meet his father this summer!" Ginny squealed into Hermione's ear. She linked her arm through Hermione's and smiled contentedly. "He's so sweet Hermione!" Ginny, almost 16, and Seamus, barely 17, had been dating for almost a year. There was no doubt that Ginny was head over heels in love with him, but Hermione still wondered if it would work out at such a young age.

"That's wonderful Gin…just great." Hermione was lost off in her own world as Ginny rattled on about the 'wonders of Seamus'. Sometimes she felt so guilty about Ron; other times she got downright mad; other times—she just wanted to marry him and get all the expectations off her shoulders. The older she got, and the more she had to deal with Ron…the more she thought she might want to marry him and move on. The more she—

"Hermione!" A hand waved in front of her face and snapped its fingers twice. She blinked and shook off her dazed expression.

"Huh--?" She mumbled. Fred grinned down at her.


	2. Cars and Conversations

((((A/N: And continued….

Scorpio 1118—what on earth is Forge? I'm so lost.

Pauly-85—Haha! I love the enthusiasm! I'm very sorry you hurt your knee. Ice (I know it's cold, but it'll work) and Ibuprofen do wonders for injuries!

eckles—Okay, so maybe she's just a little stuck up…but aren't we all deep down inside?

Okay! Moving on!)))

* * *

"Everyone else fit in Mum and Dad's car—but you're last, so you're just going to have to ride with George and me." He laughed and picked up her bags. George was already in the car, waiting for them, so Fred carried her luggage by himself to the car. "So—" He said after a minute, "Which of my brothers were you thinking about?" He asked, as they slowly made their way through the traffic towards his car. 

"Ro—wait, what!' She said, realizing that Fred had set yet another one of his cunning word traps. He chuckled at the frustrated and confused expression on her face.

"Don't worry—I won't tell anybody. I've got to tell you; I wasn't expecting you to say Ron…from the disgusted expression on your face, you looked like you were thinking about Percy. What did Ronnykins do this time?" Fred said, as they arrived at the car and he popped the trunk, tossing her bags in and slamming it close again.

"It doesn't matter…" Hermione shook her head and dejectedly started towards the passengers' side of the car, opened the door, and slipped into the front seat. She looked over her shoulder into the backseat, and saw George lying across the seat, fast asleep. She gave a halfhearted smile and turned to look out the window. She heard Fred open the door and get in next to her, start the engine, and drive away from the station. After they'd reached the main road, Fred decided to reopen their earlier discussion.

"Now—tell me what's got you so worked up about Ron." He said, looking in his rearview mirror and changing lanes.

"It doesn't—" She started, without looking away from the window.

"No Hermione—it _does_ matter; it matters very much. I want to know what's got my favorite little brothers girlfriend in such a work." He said, sparing a glance over at her. Hermione rolled her eyes—that was it—she was tired of being Ron's "girlfriend". She decided to tell Fred just that—actually she couldn't help telling him just that. She exploded and the words tumbled from her mouth before she knew what hit her.

"_Look_—" She hissed, "I am so _tired_ of everyone expecting me to date Ron, to marry Ron, to make little Weasley children with Ron. All he is to me is a _friend_. That's it—a _friend_. Can't two people, a guy and a girl, be friends without _romance_ getting involved!" With that, Hermione threw up her hands and groaned. She slumped back in her seat and sighed. George stirred in the backseat and made sleepy attempts to shush the noisemakers, whoever they were, but when Hermione got quiet, he fell back into his dreams. Fred, who'd been quiet up until now, raised his eyebrows and nodded as he thought. After a few minutes of awkward silence, he spoke.

"I see." He said. "You don't love Ron then…"

"No." Hermione said quietly.

"Then that's okay. No one can blame you for not loving him. We can't help who we fall in love with—it's out of our hands." He didn't take his eyes off the road for more than a second after he said this, but when he did, and looked over at Hermione, he knew that he had taken the exact words that were written in her heart and they had just popped out of his mouth. She looked like she was about to cry.

"Exactly…" She sniffed out. Fred dug a hankie his mother made him keep in the car out of the glove compartment and handed it to Hermione.

"I didn't mean to make you cry." He laughed softly.

"It's okay—It's not your fault…it's just weird. You get it." She dabbed at the corners of her eyes, then blew her nose and pocketed the hankie.

"Hey—what are Freds for? Here we are!" He said as they pulled up in front of the Burrow. "Home Sweet Home" Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had already gotten there, along with Ginny, Harry, and Ron, and were waiting for them inside. George walked straight into the house when the car stopped, eager to get a real nap in his room, but Hermione waited around for Fred as he got her things.

"Thank you," She said as they walked towards the door leading to the kitchen. And somehow, Fred just knew she wasn't just thanking him for carrying her things.

* * *

"Ah…Fred—Hermione—George!" Percy called from the breakfast table. He was back—acting as cocky and superior as ever, and loving every moment of it. 

"Percy…" Hermione mumbled and nodded in his direction before hurrying after Fred. She followed him up the long flight of creaky wooden stairs, up to the second floor or the house. She turned and started to walk towards Ginny's door, but Fred stopped her.

"Nope, up here." He mumbled, juggling her bags and shifting them so they were easier to carry. Hermione, perplexed, followed him down a hallway across the way from Ginny's room. When he reached the second door on the right, Fred stopped and pushed the door open.

"Here…" He said, dropping her bags on the floor. Hermione followed him into the room. The walls were a color of red Hermione had never seen before. It was a very calming red. A very...peaceful color. A large, wooden double bed sat facing into the room, with a matching wooden nightstand on either side. A Gryffindor blanket covered the bed, and Chudley Cannons posters covered the walls. A large wooden desk and matching set of draws sat opposite the bed, and on top of the dresser were several books; _Quidditch Qualms?_, _Broomstick Servicing 101, The Wizarding Worlds Top 100 Pranks, A Flight to Remember, Jokes by George, _and _Fred Weasley: A Life. _Hermione walked in and put her book bag on the bed.

"Fred, this looks like your room…" She said quietly.

"Yeah, it is, but I'm rooming with George for awhile, right next door." He pointed to a door across the room from him. "They connect, but you can keep the door locked if you want. The connecting doors—it's a twin thing. It's nice to know there's someone there when times get tough." Hermione watched as Fred pretended to get choked up and wiped away an imaginary tear, but she knew he was telling the truth. Hermione smiled and nodded her head.

"I didn't want to kick you out of your room. I can stay with Ginny, or sleep on the couch, or…" Before she could mention another alternative, Fred whipped out his wand, waved it, and her voice vanished. She moved her lips, but no sound came out. Fred laughed as she angrily mouthed, _"FRED!" _She put her hands on her hips and stomped her foot, and Fred could tell she was giving him a tongue lashing, even though he couldn't hear her. He smiled, and walked towards her, took her hand and gave it a quick squeeze.

"I don't mind you staying in my room. I'm fine with George." He walked to the door and let himself out, waving his wand once before he closed the door.

"—EASLEY, YOU ARE INSUFFERABLE!" Hermione finished shouting. She stopped abruptly as her voice came back, and then smiled reluctantly, shaking her head and sighing.


	3. Settling and Smiling

Hermione walked around, looking at the room that would be hers for the next three months. She picked her book bag up off the floor and put it on the bed, next to the rest of her bags. She decided she'd be nosy…just this once…and poke around in Fred's room. She walked over to the closet next to the bed and opened the door. Fairly neat; a few button up shirts, a set of dress robes, school robes, and a robe hung neatly on hangers. Hermione smiled. Mess around; irresponsible Fred _would_ be Mr. Neat. He'd always insisted on being the exact opposite of what people expected of him. She shut the door, and walked over to the dresser. Of course, the books called to her. She looked at them closely, and then pulled _Fred Weasley: a Life_ off the shelf. She thumbed through it quickly, but then Mrs. Weasley called from downstairs.

"_Everyone hurry up and get unpacked! I need help getting the dinner ready!"_

Hermione slid the book back in its original place on the dresser top, making a mental note to look at it later. She quickly put her folded clothes into the drawers, slid them shut and stashed her bags in the closet. She put her journal and few books into the drawer with her skirts and pants, sliding them under a pair of her favorite jeans, hiding them from view. Then she ran downstairs to help Mrs. Weasley in the kitchen.

* * *

That night, about ten-thirty, Hermione, Fred, George, Ginny, Harry, and Ron came dragging in from outside. They'd been playing Quidditch since eight o'clock and were completely exhausted. Hermione and Ginny each called the two upstairs bathrooms, rushing up and getting in for a nice long soak, while the boys went to Ron and Harry's room to wait their turn. Soon they were all draped around the room; Ron was on the floor, leaning against the side of his bed, George was lying on his back on the bed, Fred was sprawled out on the floor and Harry was leaning on the wall near the door. They compared Quidditch strategies they'd heard, talked about Fred and George's joke shop, talked about Hogwarts, and finally settled on a topic everyone, especially Ron, enjoyed…Hermione.

"I never thought Hermione would grow up and look so—well, _hot_!" George said, grinning at Fred. "Don't you agree?" Fred nodded, but didn't make much of a response.

"She's very attractive, I'll give you that." He muttered, looking at his watch. It had been a long day, and he was ready to go to bed, even if it was early.

"She's the most beautiful thing I've ever laid eyes on." Ron said quietly, absently running his hand through his hair, deep in thought. Harry laughed.

"We all know you've got it bad, Mate." He said, causing George to laugh as well, then Fred to chuckle, and finally Ron to smile.

"What are you going to do about it?" George asked, shifting, making the bed shake.

"I don't know…" Ron muttered.

"You better act fast or somebody else will snatch her up!" George said loudly. George was usually the calmer, quieter of the two, but today, for some reason, he was being very un-George-ly loud and obnoxious. Nobody said anything. It was quiet, and they all took advantage of the silence to think to themselves. It takes a strong brotherhood, or friendship in Harry's case, to be able to tolerate silence without feeling uncomfortable. They were all lost in their own thoughts, thinking of someone special, of their lives, of their aches and their longings. Their solitude was interrupted by three short raps on the door. All at once, their eyes snapped to the door as it opened and Ginny popped her head in. Her hair was wrapped in a towel, and her face was free of makeup, dirt, and mud.

"Bathroom's all yours boys. Hermione's out too." She said sweetly, then left, leaving the door open behind her. Fred and George looked at each other.

"Reckon it's our turn?" George said to Fred.

"Yes, I do." Fred replied. They stood up and stretched, then headed through the door, shutting it behind them. George went in one bathroom, and Fred went into the other. After shutting the door behind him, Fred switched on the shower, tested the temperature, stripped off his muddy clothes, and hopped in. After washing his hair and face, along with the rest of his body, he turned off the shower head and reached for his towel.

"_Damn" _He thought_, "I left my robe in my room, but Hermione's in there now! Oh well…I'll just have to go get it I guess. Hope she doesn't mind..."_ He wrapped his towel around his waist, picked up his dirty clothes, and made his way towards his—or Hermione's—room. He dropped his clothes in the laundry shoot outside the bathroom door. He gave three quick raps on the door.

"Hmm?" Hermione said from inside the room.

"Hermione, it's me—Fred—I left my robe in there and I need to come in and get it."

"Oh, okay, come on in." She said from inside. Fred turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. She was sitting up in his bed, hair falling around her face in damp, dark curls, in a pink nightdress. She had the covers pulled up high, her knees pulled to her chest, and a book leaning on her knees. He took a moment to note that George was right, she was _very_ attractive, but then quickly averted his eyes, and walked to the closet and got his robe. He turned back around and saw Hermione looking at him with her eyes wide and her mouth slightly open.

"What?" He asked, and then looked down. He was wearing a towel. Only a towel…


	4. Brothers and BioBooks

In the Weasley house, this was no big deal, but Hermione had no brothers or sisters. She wasn't used to seeing her best friend's 20 year old brother in—close to nothing. Fred had the decency to blush.

"Oh—sorry." He gave her a sheepish grin. "It's really no big deal—I'm all covered really. I'm just—I'm just gonna go change." He slipped through the door connecting his room to George's. He barely got the door shut before he started to laugh. The look on her face—oh, it had been priceless. He slipped on his pajama pants and toweled off as he got dressed. He had to be quiet, because George was in bed asleep. He glanced over at the clock—12:00 on the nose. He threw his towel over the back of George's desk chair, then walked back to the door and opened it. Hermione was still in her bed, but now she had her face covered by her hands, shaking, and Fred could tell she was beet red and laughing.

"What's so funny?" Fred asked. She jumped at the sound of his voice. Seeing him, clothed this time, only made her laugh harder, which made Fred burst into peals of laughter as well. They laughed together and Fred made his way over to the bed and sat on it next to her.

"Well, how was your first 'large family' experience?" He asked once they had both calmed down.

"Large family experience?"

"The little faux-pas that only people from large families make, such as walking around in only a towel, walking into bathrooms, bedrooms, ect without knocking…you know…those types of things." Fred said, smoothing back his wet hair from his face.

"Oh," Hermione laughed again, "It was—interesting." She smiled at him, still red from the laughing and the embarrassment.

"What are you reading?" Fred asked, leaning over to look over her knees.

"Oh, it's a book I found on your dresser. I hope you don't mind." She said, closing the book, while keeping her finger in it to mark her page, and handing it to him.

"Ah!" He said, reading the title, "My BioBook."

"Uh-huh. It's actually fascinating. I didn't know you had a lisp until you were six." Hermione said, smiling at him.

"Ha Ha, very funny; knowing you, you'll use it against me. Anyway, all us Weasleys have a BioBook. Our parents gave them to us when we were babies, and as we grow up, anything important or memorable that happens to us goes in that book. It's to remind us that no matter what's going on now, or what's going to happen in the future, things will always turn out for the best. And it also helps us learn from our mistakes. I mean—I haven't touched it since I was—Merlin, six years old. There's a spell on it, and as these things happen, they are written in the book. Let's see, what's happened most recently…" Fred scooted up to sit next to Hermione, who made room for him. He slid the book over to it rested half on her legs, and half on his, and flipped a few pages. "Ah!" He said, coming to the last few pages. "Let's see…_Leaving Hogwarts_, that made Mum and Dad plenty angry; O_pening Weasley's,_ there's still no one who's figured out where we got that money from;_ Bill getting engaged to Fleur, _Ah, well, I guess I'm happy for them; _Charlie getting burnt by the Horntail and hospitalized, _We were a wreck then…we were so worried for him. He needs to take a few pointers from old Harry about Horntails—Ah! Here it is! _Getting thoroughly embarrassed by Miss Hermione Granger when walked in on her in only a bath towel—_that my dear, will be forever burned in my memory." He said, looking at Hermione and giving her a Weasley signature lopsided grin. Hermione looked up at him and smiled back. It wasn't until then that Fred realized how close he was to her—they were practically sitting thigh to thigh, and here he was in nothing but long pajama pants (more than a towel, but still…). His eyes met hers and they simply looked at each other for a long time. Then, out of the blue he slipped effortlessly off the side of the bed and placed the book back into her lap.

"I think it's time we both go to bed." He whispered. She nodded.

"Goodnight." She said so quietly he almost didn't hear her. He walked towards the door to George's room and opened it. Turning back, he whispered.

"Goodnight Hermione," then slipped out of the room.

* * *

"Up you get Hermione…" Hermione felt someone nudging her side. She groaned and threw her arm over her face, trying to block out the sudden burst of light. She was nudged again, harder this time. "Hermione Darling, come on! Get up; it's a beautiful day!" Mrs. Weasley nudged her one last time, then sighed and pulled out her wand. She held it close to Hermione's ear and whispered, _"Drenchona." _A stream of water shot from her wand into Hermione's ear. Hermione jumped about a foot off the bed, wide awake now.

"Ugh! Mrs. Weasley!" She pounded the side of her head, trying to get all the water out.

"Yes?" Mrs. Weasley asked sweetly. She walked around the room, picking up the clothes Hermione had thrown over the back of Fred's desk chair, and put them in the huge laundry shoot outside the bathroom door. She walked back in the room and sat on the bed next to Hermione.

"Well, let's see. I thought today you, Ginny, and me might go to Hogsmeade and have a little 'girl time'. What do you say to that?"

"Splendid…" Hermione muttered groggily. She rubbed her hand over her face and smiled sleepily up at Mrs. Weasley, "Positively splendid."

"Lovely. Breakfast is ready, waiting for you downstairs. I'm just going to go wake the twins and Harry and Ron, and we'll be on our way." She stood and walked to the door.

"Mm-kay." Hermione said groggily as Mrs. Weasley walked out and pulled the door shut behind her. Hermione pushed the rest of her covers off and swung her legs over to hang off the side of the bed. She stretched and yawned, and finally dragged herself the rest of the way out of bed, so she was standing. She dragged over to her dresser and pulled out a short denim skirt, a black tank top, and a bra. She pulled her nightgown off over her head, hooked on her bra and slipped the tank top over her head. Next, she pulled on the skirt, buttoned it, put on her pink belt, slipped on her black sandals, and looked at her reflection in Fred's mirror. She shrugged, she looked okay. She pulled out her makeup back, and with a few quick strokes of mascara, a wipe of eyeshadow, a dab of lipgloss, and a pinch of eyeliner, she was ready to go. She pulled her hair back in a messy bun as she walked down the stairs to breakfast.

"Good morning Hermione!" Mr. Weasley called from the head of the table as he watched her come down the stairs.

"Good morning Mr. Weasley." She replied, reaching the bottom of the stairs. The only other people at the table were Ron and Ginny, so she took a seat next to Ron and smiled at him.

"'Morning 'Mione." He smiled back.

"Good morning, good morning Ginny." Ginny grinned at her from across the table, her mouth too full of food to say much. She'd taken after Ron in that respect; she loved to eat. Mrs. Weasley set a plate of eggs and bacon down in front of her and told her to eat. As she lifted the first forkful of egg into her mouth, she heard voices upstairs.

"George, let it rest."

"No! I want to know where you were last night at god-knows-how-late!"

"Nowhere."

"You had to be _somewhere_ Freddy! And I demand to know where!" George said loudly as the twins came bounding down the stairs. They made their way over to the table just as Fred said—

"I said 'let it rest', NOW LEAVE ME ALONE!" He took a piece of toast and shoved it into George's mouth, just as he was about to say something. Then he stormed out through the kitchen door into the garden. George spit out the toast and rolled his eyes.

"Drama, drama, drama…" He muttered, putting jelly on the toast and sitting down next to Hermione.

"Are you ready Hermione?" Mrs. Weasley said, picking up her bag. Hermione nodded and put down her fork, hadn't eaten a thing, and followed Mrs. Weasley and 15 year old Ginny to the fireplace. With a round of 'goodbyes' they flooed into Hogsmeade for the day.


	5. Late Nights and Long Stories

(((A/N: Iiiii'm back!

**SpikesDreamer**—_Thank You Thank You Thank You! I'll try to get more! And yes, Fred and slight lack of coverage mix well. :-D_

**angryteabag**—haha_, I like the energy! I get impatient too._

**CrazyGirl2092**—_aww you make me feel good inside! I LOVE F&H fics…they're so…not H&R or H&H and I love that :-D_

**Pauly**—_Thank you kindly!_

**Morena-Forever**—I'm _workin' on it!_

**elka78**- _oh, a Lisp is like, a talking thing, where you kind slur your words….like, lets see…um…the word 'swing' would come out like 'thwing'…Its kinda hard to explain_.

**wannabe-hermione**—_don't feel too sorry for Ron…he'll get over it and move on (I hope)_

**the blonde barbie**—_I think you and me think a lot a like!_

**sandiwandi**—_hermione isn't exactly hot, she's just grown up and matured since the boys last saw her…and gotten a lot prettier :-D)))_

Mrs. Weasley, Hermione, and Ginny got back late that night, weighed down with bags on bags of shopping. Sure, most of Ginny's things were second hand and needed for school, while Hermione's were new and some were frivolous, but just the same, the girls were happy and content with their purchases. They stepped out of the fireplace before the flames singed them and dropped everything on the kitchen table.

"Well now girls, it looks like the boys have made dinner and gone on to bed." Mrs. Weasley stood in the center of the kitchen, hands on hips, and looking around. Pots and plates were piled in the sink, dishes were left on the table, some kind of strange sauce concoction ran down the sides of the cabinets, and fingerprints were left all over the place. Mrs. Weasley rolled up her sleeves and started running water in the sink.

"Ginny, go wake up your father, Ron, and Harry; Hermione, go get the twins. We will _not_ be cleaning up _their_ mess. Then go on to bed girls." Ginny giggled and ran up the stairs, and Hermione followed close behind. She walked to the end of the hallway, down the short hallway in front of Ginny's room, and knocked on the third door on the right side.

"What the devil—?" A voice from inside cried out. Hermione pushed open the door and let some light in on the dark room. There were two twin beds, a dresser, a couple night tables, and a huge green rug on the floor.

"George, Fred, your mother says you have to come downstairs and cleanup the mess you've made in the kitchen." She watched as one of the beds started to move, and a very tired George climbed out of it, grumbling the whole time. She watched as he shrugged on his robe and started towards the door. He reached towards the other bed and started to shake the huge bundle of covers.

"C'mon Freddy, we have to go down to the kitchen." The figure in the bed didn't move. "Freddy?" He shook again. "FRED!" He finally yelled, then threw back the covers and Fred—

wasn't there.

George got a perplexed look on his face, then looked under the covers, on top of the covers, on the sides of the bed, and finally got on his hands and knees on the floor and looked _under_ the bed.

"He's gone!" George said loudly, scratching his head, then got a devilish look on his face. "He's probably snuck away again like he did last night…I wonder what he's up to." George said thoughtfully as he walked towards Hermione and the still open door. He brushed past Hermione and walked down the stairs. Hermione could hear the rest of the males in the house stirring, grumbling, and following him down the stairs. She still stood at the open door to George's room.

"Where's Fred--?" She said quietly to herself, and then a thought occurred to her. She walked across the room towards the door on the other side that connected to Fred's—her—room. She swung open the door and looked in. Fred sat in a big chair in the corner of the room (one that had not been there when she'd left earlier in the day) under a floor lamp that was glowing with golden light (also, just appeared) reading. He had on his pajama bottoms, no top, and his hair was wilder looking than ever. He was so absorbed in the book, he didn't even notice when Hermione called his name.

"Fred!" She called again. This time he snapped his head up, startled, to look at her.

"Oh, hey Hermione. Are you ready to go to bed? I'll just—"

"No."

"What?"

"No, that's okay, you can stay here. I mean, your mother wanted you to clean up the mess you boys made downstairs, but that's okay, you can stay here, I won't tell on you." She said, smiling at him while she slipped in the room and quietly closed the door behind her. She walked over to where he was sitting and looked over his shoulder.

"What are you reading?" She asked quietly.

"A book about Quidditch." He said, looking up at her. He had a sad, needy look in his eyes that made Hermione wonder.

"You really miss it don't you?" She asked. He nodded.

"More than you'll ever know…" He muttered. He got a sort of far-away look in his eyes, but promptly shook it off. "Look at me, talking away while I'm sure all you want to do is get dressed and go to bed."

"No, that's all right, I'm not even tired. I'm just going to go and change and I'll be right back." She grabbed her t-shirt and shorts from under her pillow and ran quickly to the bathroom to get changed. She was done less than ten minutes later and back in her room. Fred still sat in the big chair, light glowing and giving his hair a golden tint, absorbed in the book once again. When she walked in, he hopped out of the chair and told her to sit down. When she declined, he grabbed her wrist and gently tossed her into the chair. She laughed and rolled her eyes.

"Men…" She muttered, not realizing that Fred was thinking along the same lines.

"Women…" He said at the same time. They both laughed again, and Fred plopped himself down on the floor at Hermione's feet and stretched out on his stomach.

"So, how was shopping?" He asked her. Hermione shrugged.

"It was okay." It _had_ been going great; she and Ginny were having a wonderful time before they met Mrs. Weasley for lunch. Then she just had to start in on the perfect match—Hermione and Ron—together for life. She mentioned how sweet they were together and how excited she was that Hermione might be soon a part of the family and etcetera and etcetera and etcetera. Hermione loved the woman, but she was on the verge of pinching her head off. Hermione found herself telling Fred about his mother and her expectations.

"Aww Hermione, don't worry. She'll get over it. She has always expected me to marry Katie Bell, but George has his heart set on her, and I think _she_ may be in love with _him_. So you and I can be Mum's two disappointments together, okay?" He smiled up at her and winked.

"Okay…" She'd never noticed how sweet Fred was. They talked for another three hours, before Fred finally rolled over and stretched, yawning.

"Anyway, I heard everyone else come up about an hour ago, so they're probably asleep and I can sneak back into my room. He hopped up off the floor and waited while Hermione got out of the chair and perched herself lightly on the bed before whisking the light, chair, and book back into thin air where they belonged. "Goodnight Hermione." He said as he walked out of the room.

"Goodnight Fred, sleep tight."

The summer holidays passed quickly. Fred and George spent a good portion of every day in the garden shed, which they had converted into a make-shift lab where they'd test ideas and theories for the shop. Harry and Ron spent most of the days playing Wizards Chess or Gobstones, Ginny wrote sickeningly sweet letters everyday to Seamus, who was in Ireland with his parents visiting his Gran, and Hermione spent most of her days wandering around from person to person. Some days she sat with Ginny and talked, some she was just quiet and watched Harry and Ron's friendly (well, most of the time) competitions, sometimes she helped Mrs. Weasley in the kitchen. But her favorite days, by far, were the Tuesdays and Fridays. On those days, George would get all cleaned up and go to Diagon Alley to meet with Katie, leaving Fred alone in the lab working on some new concoction. After George was gone, Hermione would sneak into the lab, sit on a stool near the work table, and watch Fred while he mixed and stirred and tested his Pranks. They'd have long conversations about his ideas for the shop, Hogwarts, Hermione's schooling, what was going to happen to both of them in the future, and so on. As the summer fell to a close, and her last year at Hogwarts approached, Hermione was starting to dread the start of the school year, and the loss of her new family—and friends. She found herself missing Fred the most of anyone. She'd never gotten along as well with George, and though Charlie, Bill, and Percy dropped in every week, she found that she just couldn't get as close to anyone else. Fred knew almost as much about her as Harry and Ron, even though they had known her much longer. The difference, she supposed, was the fact that Fred took the time to sit and listen to her, talk to her, while Harry and Ron just talked and expected _her_ to do all the listening.

She sat on the bed in Fred's room and looked around the room. It had been home for little over three months, and she loved it dearly. She remembered the late night talks she used to have almost every night with Fred, Ginny sometimes joining them, but mostly they were alone. She remembered the arguments she and Ron had gotten in, over a game or an idea or a thought, and she'd stormed up here to get away from him, only to be followed and comforted by Mrs. Weasley or Ginny. She remembered the early morning jolts she'd get when George and Fred snuck in to play a 9:00 joke on her early in the mornings, by spraying her with cold water. Everything about this place was wonderful, and it seemed too soon to leave. The only downside had been the constant nudges towards Ron. Like the comments—

"This is your home too!"

"Maybe when you and Ron…"

" Someday soon…"

Hermione soon grew sick of the outrageous expectations. She ignored them well, and laughed most of them off, but much like that second night, Hermione found herself pouring it all out on Fred. She looked around her bed and at the bags on her feet and decided she should go. The Weasleys were waiting for her downstairs.


	6. Contracts and Confusion

Hermione found herself falling easily into her old schedule at school. Things were basically the same as they'd been for the past, but something seemed to be missing. She noticed that Ron spent a lot less time being his old, argumentative self, and a lot more time being thoughtful and sweet. Hermione knew he was trying to make a good impression on her, and she knew that he liked her from the late night conversations she had with Harry, but she couldn't bring herself to think of him that way. He was like her brother—she could never love him the way he wanted her to. She started slipping off away from him and Harry, spending more time with Ginny. Even though Ginny knew that Hermione didn't like Ron in that way, she couldn't help but slip in the occasional…

"You'll learn to love him…"

"He's really a sweet guy…"

"If you two got married, we'd be sisters!"

Each time, Hermione firmly shook her head, gathered up her things and walked out of the room. She couldn't bear hearing about her and Ron any more. She knew she could never love him, and she couldn't bear hurting so many people by not doing so.

* * *

One day, about six weeks after school started, she was sitting in the Great Hall with Harry when a letter came. She was sitting next to him, eating and looking over her Arithmacy notes when the Owls came in. They flew over and one let a letter fall into her lap. She quickly finished up the page in her Arithmacy book and ripped it open.

_Hermione, _

_I just overheard the weirdest argument between my parents and George. I know you think this is out of the blue, but please, hear me out, hopefully I can explain what happened tonight so you'll understand what I'm asking you to do. _

_You see, George ran off with Katie last night. They were supposed to get married just outside Dublin, but they didn't make it. Somehow Katie's parents found out and tracked them down, catching up to them just outside London. They brought them back to the Burrow demanding to know if my parents knew what was going on—they didn't—there was a row. Katie's parents and mine sent all the kids from the room and had a go at each other, then after about half an hour, Katie's parents came in and took her away. I will never forget for as long as I live the look in her eyes as her mother dragged her out the front door. She held on to George's hand until the very last moment…it was like one of those scenes where the two lovers are being pulled slowly apart, but they are grasping onto each other for dear life. It was so sad…_

_Anyway, a few minutes later, Mum came in and demanded that Ron, Ginny, and I go up to our rooms. She kept George in the kitchen, and even though I tried to use my Extendable Ears, Mum put a Silencing Charm over the kitchen, and I couldn't hear a thing. George came up to bed about fifteen minutes later. He was very upset, I could tell because his ears were red and his eyes were glued on the floor. He came in and sat down. I waited, because I knew he'd tell me what was wrong. We keep no secrets, except one, which I will tell you about later. After a few minutes he looked up at me. His eyes were angry and hurt and his voice shook as he told me what our parents had said. You see, when George and I were born, according to our parents, Narcissa Black came to visit my mother and father. She had a chat with our father and mother, and they agreed to have us bound into Wizarding Engagement Contracts. George was supposed to marry her cousin Antigone Reid; and I was supposed to marry Antigone's sister, Nicola Reid. George is heartbroken. Katie is also bound in a Wizarding Contract to marry a boy from Beauxabons, Michaeux Pomerce, and her parents were furious that she tried to marry George instead. She's known of the engagement since she was young. As George told me this, I thought my heart would break into a million pieces, because not only do I know for a fact how much George and I both despise the Reid sisters, but the thought of being forced to marry someone without my knowledge is….horrible. I don't know why I had to write and tell you this, but maybe it's because you're feeling a similar pressure with your situation with Ron. I didn't understand until now how trapped you must feel. There is only one way to get out of the engagement, and that is if I marry my 'match' before my 20th birthday. I don't see how that will happen, seeing as my birthday is in a little less than three months. How am I supposed to find my 'match'? The one girl in this world that was made just for me…it seems impossible and I don't know how I'm going to find her in time. I'd rather live a horrible life all alone than live an even more horrible life with Nicola Reid. I don't know what I'm going to do. My parents regret the decision now, of course, but if we go against the contract, and DON'T marry the Reid's, our family will lose everything. What do I do? Tell me Hermione, you've always helped me and calmed me and told me what the right thing to do was…Help me now, I need you._

_Yours Eternally,_

_Fred Weasley_

Hermione gave a slight gasp. She slowly lowered the letter away from her face in shock.

"Hermione? Are you okay?" Harry asked, reaching across the table to put his hand on her arm.

"Uh huh—I mean—I've got to go." She said breathlessly, shoving her books and quills and papers in her bag, and keeping Fred's letter clutched firmly in her own, ran out of the Great Hall to the common rooms.

* * *

The minute she reached her room, she slammed and locked the door behind her and threw her bag on the bed. Rifling through her drawer, she pulled out a sheet of parchment and a new quill, sat at her desk, and started to write.

_Fred,_

_I was so happy to get a letter from you when I received it in the Owl Post this morning, now I am not so sure. I haven't heard from you in so long, After reading it, I've got to tell you it was kind of alarming. Marriage? It sounds wonderful, but only if you marry the right person. If it would help,** I** would marry you—now! In an instant! But in this kind of situation, I've got to tell you, I don't believe it would work out. I would never want to hurt your family if something went wrong. I couldn't bear for them to lose everything they've hoped for…As for me and Ron, well, let me reassure you, I don't love him and I never will, but it hurts so much to think I'm disappointing your family by what I'm doing—_

"Hermione open this door before I have to blast it open!" A voice yelled from outside her door. She'd been so absorbed in her letter, she'd ignored the last five minutes of heavy pounding and yelling. Hermione jumped off her stool to open the door. As she pulled the door open, Ron fell in, red faced and blustery.

"What in the devil is going on?" He panted. "Why did you run out of the Great Hall in such a rush? What's wrong?"

"N-Nothing." Hermione stuttered, walking over and sitting on the stool.

"Hermione--?" Ron walked over and put his hands on her shoulders from behind. Hermione hesitantly placed her hand on top of one of his and shook her head.

"I'm fine, Ron, I just—you know, got a letter from my mother…" She didn't know why she felt the need to lie to Ron…she just had to. He leaned over and started to whisper in her ear. Then he caught sight of the unfinished letter on the desk. He picked it up and scanned it quickly, his face paling more and more as he read each line.

"Hermione—why—what--?" Ron's pale face went from a ghastly shade of white to an angered red in a flash. "Why the devil are you writing my brother? You're? I can't believe you two! What the—I can't believe you two want to get married! You've been leading me on then? Hermione! I can't—" Ron shook his head in disbelief and crumpling it, threw the letter on the ground, turned on his heel and ran out the door.


	7. Mayhem and Misunderstandings

(((A/N: I know this is an UNBELIEVABLY short chapter, but I really really really wanted to move on...and I was kinda stuck. Anyway...

Amaranthine.Amour-- good thinking. lol...yeah they are...but i guess they can be in two places at once! ahh the joy of literature and magic--anything is possible. Thanks for the spelling corrections...and yes...Drama Drama, Drama...

EmotionalSoul--LoL Keep your pants on hunny, I'm goin' as fast as i can!

Melissa--Thank you! LoL A gift? Wow...is it a car? JkJk

Thanks everybody else for all ya'lls reviews. They made me feel really good. On with the show! 3333))))

"Ron!" Hermione grabbed Fred's letter off the desk, then ran down the stairs after him, finally catching up to him in the Common Room. It was still dinner-time, so most everyone was in the Great Hall. Ron finally stopped in front of Harry, who was sitting on the couch with Ginny and Seamus. "Ron!" Hermione said again. Ron looked at her, and for a split second, saw pain and anguish in his big green eyes. "I---"

"What's going on?" Ginny asked, sliding her hand from Seamus' and standing up. Harry stood as well, and the three of them looked at Ron.

"Tell them Hermione." He said in a dangerously low voice.

"I—" Hermione didn't want to say anything. She slipped her hands behind her back and shoved Fred's letter into the back of her skirt. For some reason, she just didn't want anyone to read it.

"Tell them Hermione!" Ron said again, impatient this time. "Tell them how you feel about Fred! You like him don't you!" He yelled at her, taking the letter she'd written and shoved it in her face. "This proves it!"  
"Ron, it's not like that! We're just—" She took a step forward, but he backed away.

"No!"

"What's going on?" Harry echoed Ginny.

"Ron!" Hermione said again, getting extremely frustrated.

"WHAT'S GOING ON!" Harry and Ginny yelled together.

"NOTHING!" Hermione and Ron yelled at them. Harry and Ginny rolled their eyes and Seamus just sat on the couch, looking confused.

"Hermione, you used me! You led me on! I never thought you'd do that…I guess I was wrong about you though…" He said, shaking his head and giving the letter to Harry. Not taking his eyes from Hermione's, he said—" Take it, read it, burn it." Then turned around and strode away, through the portrait hole, and away from Hermione's sight.

* * *

Hermione dejectedly walked upstairs to her room and sighed. She groaned and threw herself back across her bed. _I really did it this time…_she thought to herself. _The perfect guy is madly in love with me, and I have to go and get involved with his brother. _She rubbed her eyes, trying to erase the image of Ron storming out of her room, and rolled over onto her stomach. She kicked off her shoes and laid her head on her folded arms and closed her eyes. She needed someone to talk to. Suddenly, she snapped her head up and reached into her bedside table, pulling out a piece of parchment and a spare quill.

_Fred—_

_Meet me in Hogsmeade tonight at twelve, behind the Shrieking Shack. I **really** need to talk to you…._

_Yours, Hermione_

Hermione took the note and shoved it in her pocket, then hurried down to the Owlery. She used a school owl to send the note to Fred, praying it got to him on time. She checked her watch; six hours until she had to be in Hogsmeade.


	8. Meetings and Marriage

Hermione blinked open her eyes. Outside her window, the sky was dark. Clouds, heavy and thick, hung across the deep, dark blue of the sky and stars peeked through. Hermione picked her head up off her pillow and wondered why she had woken up. Then she remembered…Fred. She hastily looked at her watch—11:00. She was barely going to have enough time to get to Hogsmeade. She slid off her bed, careful not to wake Ginny and Lavender, and grabbed his letter, her dark blue cloak, and her wand and slipped out the door. She hurried through the castle, wishing she'd thought ahead enough to get Harry's Map and Invisibility Cloak, towards the one-eyed-witch. As she turned the corner, she heard footsteps. She shrank back into the shadows, breathless, praying she wouldn't be seen.

"…when I walked in she was writing it. I want to know when she got to know my brother _this_ well!" A familiar voice permeated Hermione's ears. His voice stung—she hated disappointing her friend, but something had to be done.

"…this summer. I mean…she wasn't with us the whole time…" Harry was so good to her. He _knew_ where she'd been all summer. One day he caught her when she snuck into to Fred's workshop. They secretly agreed not to tell Ron…Harry had thought she'd stop hanging out with Fred so much, but it just hadn't happened. She was glad he was continuing to keep their secret. She'd have to remember to thank him later. The voices gradually faded away as Ron and Harry walked away. Hermione peeked around the corner and saw the air shimmer slightly. She knew Ron and Harry were wearing the invisibility cloak. They were probably going down to the kitchens for a midnight snack. Hermione waited until their footsteps and voices faded away before stepping out of her hiding place and hurrying towards the statue. Sliding the hump out of the way, she scurried down the opening into the passageway. "_Lumos_." She whispered in the dark. Suddenly, her wand blazed, bathing all of the old, dirt walls with light. She hurried down the passage towards Hogsmeade, praying to Merlin she wouldn't be late.

An hour later, Hermione slid the slab of concrete covering the passageway over to the side. She hoisted herself out of the hole and hurried through HoneyDukes, which was closed and locked-down tight. She unlocked the front door and let herself through, being careful not to make any noise. She made her way stealthily down the streets of Hogsmeade, which were uncommonly crowded with young lovers having late-night outings. Hermione was sure she saw Oliver Wood with his new girlfriend, and she longed to go up and speak to him; since he'd graduated Hogwarts, everyone missed him. But, she couldn't afford to be seen. Fred was her main concern at this point. She hurried once again towards the Shrieking Shack and let herself in a back door.

"Fred—?" She called. She heard a noise upstairs, and followed the sound. "_FRED_—?" She called again.

"Hermione?" He emerged from a door at the top of the stairs and Hermione breathed a sigh of relief.  
"Fred!" She ran the rest of the way upstairs and lunged at him. She threw her arms around his waist and held on tight, burying her face in his chest. He laughed at her eagerness, but carefully pushed her away, holding her at arms length.

"Hermione, what is it? Why did you want me to meet you at midnight? In the Shrieking Shack? If you wanted to see me, all you had to do was come to the Burrow for the weekend. Did you really miss me that much?" He laughed.

"MmHmm…" She mumbled into his shirt. He laughed again, then waited as she sobered and looked up at him. "Actually, it's Ron—" Fred's smile faded rapidly as he took her hand and led her into the room above the stairs. It was the bedroom where she had first met Sirius. She shuddered at the memories. His death had affected her particularly. He'd been so….but she couldn't go into that now. She turned towards Fred, who leaned on a dust covered piano.

"Fred—Ron found the letter I was writing in response to the one you sent me. He thinks we're going to get married. He thinks—I don't know…he's…"

"Let me guess…" Fred said, taking her by the elbow and leading her over to the piano bench, which was equally covered in dust, and pulling her down on the seat next to him. "He went ballistic. He took your letter and showed it to Harry. He accused you of using him." Hermione stared at him, openmouthed.

"How did you—"

"Harry wrote me. He wanted to warn me in case Ron went wild. He seems pretty upset." They were quiet for a moment. Hermione didn't want to talk about Ron anymore at that point…he was only upsetting her, and here she was, sitting with Fred….a very good friend….and she wanted to know how he'd been.

"Did you—Have you figured out a way to get around the Contracts?" Hermione asked quietly.

"Actually…I think I might. I meant to write you about it, but then I got your note and I figured I'd just tell you tonight." He fiddled around with his school ring, which he wore proudly on his third finger on his right hand. Even though he hadn't graduated from Hogwarts, Dumbledore had sent the two infamous pranksters their rings. Hermione took her hand and laid it over his fiddling fingers and looked at him.

"How Fred?" She muttered.

"I need to get married." Hermione stared at him, her eyes wide, her eyebrows arched in a shocked surprise.

"M-Married?" She asked.

"Yes…and actually…I think I know a way to solve both our problems." He said. He stood and paced around the room, leaving Hermione sitting on the bench, staring after him.

"Fred…how…?" The minute he turned around, she knew what he was going to ask. She _knew_ the minute she met his eyes. She blushed profusely as he dropped to his knees in front of her, and pulled a small silver ring out of his back pocket.

"'Mione…how about marrying me?"


	9. Hard Days and Hard Times

"Fred, you know I…we can't…are you crazy?" Hermione stuttered out. Fred grinned up at her, his earlier nervousness lost and his confidence restored.

"Of course I'm crazy…I'm a Weasley, it comes in the package." He made it sound so simple…so lighthearted and easy. Hermione smiled weakly at him.

"I don't…Fred…" She ran her hands, which were slick with sweat, down her jean covered thighs and bit her bottom lip. "I can't…"

"Hermione-" Fred took both of Hermione's hands in his own and pulled her gently so she was sitting on the floor next to him. He let go of one of her hands and brushed a stray piece of hair across her face, then cupped her face in both of his hands. Hermione couldn't help but notice how large and warm his hands were, and calloused…the hands of a man who worked for a living…but when he held her hands and touched her face, they were just as gentle and smooth as her own. She closed her eyes and looked towards the ground, but Fred gently lifted her face towards his and brushed her cheeks with his thumbs.

"Hermione, look at me." His voice was gravelly and deep, and Hermione couldn't resist looking up into his big green eyes. "If our circumstances were different, I would have waited until you were out of school. I would have started hanging around you more and more, eventually I would have gotten brave enough to hold your hand one day while we were walking in Hogsmeade, then I would have asked you out on a date, and prayed that you'd say yes. On that date, I'd be bashful and romantic and pray that everything go perfect, just to please you, and maybe—just maybe—when I took you home at the end of our date, I'd give you a kiss. The first of many that would come, and then…after we'd been dating for a year or more, I'd ask you to be my wife. But I can't do that, we don't have time. I can understand if you say no…you have your whole life ahead of you, but Hermione I need you…I think we can make this work." Fred smiled at her, and wiped away the tears that had started pouring down Hermione's cheeks. She sniffed and Fred let go of her. She looked down to the floor immediately, and Fred pulled a handkerchief out of his back pocket and gave it to her. She wiped her eyes and blew her nose, then started to offer it back to Fred.

"You keep it, its okay." He said, smiling. She smiled back. When she regained her composure, she sat up straight and looked Fred in the eye.

"Give me until tomorrow night…I'll send Orion with my answer." She said slowly.

"That's a very adult answer…thank you Hermione." He said, standing and brushing the dust from his back and legs.

"For what? I haven't said yes yet, you know." Hermione said, remaining on the floor, folding the handkerchief and putting it in her pocket.

"For giving me the chance." Fred leaned down and took her head in his hands and kissing her lightly on top of the head before grabbing her hands and lifting her up to her feet. "Now, I think it's about time we got you back to the castle. I'll walk you as far as HoneyDukes, and let you go from there."

Hermione had promised she'd think about it. So she thought…and thought…and thought. Through the next day, Ron was perfectly—not-Ron-like at all. He knew something was wrong. He'd been her friend long enough to sense that much. He apologized at breakfast for being such a prat the night before.

"If you and Fred are…well, that's your business…but I just want you to know Hermione…I love you. Not only as a friend, but…more." Hermione knew he expected her to be shocked and leap into his arms yelling;

"OH RON! I LOVE YOU TOO!" Then kiss him passionately, but she just looked at Ron and shook her head.

"No Ron…" She'd muttered. She'd taken one look at the pain of being rejected in Ron's eyes and knew she'd felt her heart breaking for the first time. She ran upstairs in tears. Ron had come up to her room a little while later and sat on the edge of her bed, talking to her. He told her he'd hope she'd be happy with Fred and he hoped they could still be friends. He'd held her hand while she cried and patted her head. But in the end, when he left an hour later, she was still upset and peaky looking. By the time she went downstairs, she'd missed Herbology and was late to Potions. Snape gleefully deducted 30 points from Gryffindor for her tardiness. Hermione was miserable all day. She'd never been happier to retreat to her room at the end of the day and slip under her covers. Just before she got into bed, she quickly penned a note using her favorite quill and stationary.

_Fred—_

_I've decided. Yes, I'll marry you; let me know when and where._

_Yours, _

_Hermione_

She went quickly down to the Owlery and got Orion, her owl that Harry and Ron had given her for her 16th birthday, off his perch. She tied the note to his leg and let him fly through the window. She watched until she couldn't see him anymore, then turned and dragged herself up to her dormitory. Funny—the only thing that had kept her going all day was the thought of the possibly seeing Fred soon—or at least talking to him. Wasn't it ironic how things worked out these days…?

Hermione waited anxiously for three days for a response from Fred. Each morning she could hardly wait until the Owl Post came so she could see what his response would be. On the morning of the fourth day, she was getting somewhat disheartened. She went through her day as usual, Breakfast, Herbology, Potions, DADA, Lunch, Arithmacy, and her Wizarding Business classes. Then she reluctantly followed Harry and Ron out to the Quidditch field to watch them practice for the upcoming game against Ravenclaw. They practiced for three hours while Hermione sat in the stands and did homework with the other non-Quidditch players. She applauded when Ron or Harry made a good move and groaned when they made a bad one. By the time practice was over, it was 10:30 at night, and Hermione was drained. While the rest of the team and their "cheering squad" went to the Great Hall to get dinner, Hermione headed straight upstairs. She was too lazy to put on her pajamas, so she just pulled her sweatshirt over her head and slid out of her jeans, leaving her in nothing but her t-shirt and girl-briefs. She let her clothes fall to the floor next to her bed before sliding into bed herself. She was asleep before her head even hit the pillow.

She'd been asleep hardly five minutes, or so it seemed, when she felt herself being woken up.

"_Hermione_…" A voice whispered in her ear. "_Wake up Hermione…" _She groaned and tried to roll over the other way. "_Oh no, you've got to get up 'Mione_." The voice whispered. She recognized that voice…but who was it. She started trying to remember where she'd heard it before…it wasn't Ginny, and it wasn't Ron or Harry...maybe it was---Hermione shot out of bed. She was still sleepy and disoriented, so when she sat up, she almost fell back down from the dizziness that overcame her.

"Whoa now…" Two strong hands caught her and held her until the room straightened itself up. Her double vision went back to single standards and she shook her head slightly.

"Merlin Fred, what the hell are you doing in my room at 2 o'clock in the morning?" Hermione gasped.

"Duh Hermione…" He muttered, brushing her cheek quickly with his lips. "We're going to get married."


	10. Ceremonies and Sneaking Around

(A/N: Hey ya'll! I hope you're enjoying my story…I know some of my chapters are short, but that's just easier for me to keep my thoughts in line and not ramble. Haha. Anyway, I wanted to thank ya'll for all the reviews you're leaving and I just wanted to say hi! So….hi! Haha….enjoy the show—erm, story. :-D))

"When?" She said sleepily.

"Now!" Fred said, pulling the covers off of her and helping her out of bed. Once the covers had fallen away and she was standing by her bed, Fred stepped back and looked at her; he froze in mid-step. She stood next to her bed and blinked her eyes at him.

"What?" She asked, confused by his shocked expression. She looked down and realized what Fred was staring at. She was wearing her hot pink girl-briefs that said "_Take me, I'm yours" _and a tight fitting black t-shirt. She blushed as it dawned on her that Fred was seeing her in her underwear. She thought it was funny actually—they'd both had odd moment in bedrooms…concerning a lack of clothes…wasn't life ironic…

"Um, you see—I—well…FRED GO WAIT OUTSIDE!" She stage whispered so she wouldn't wake the other girls. He didn't hesitate to do what he was told, but hurried out of the girls dorm and shut the door behind him. Hermione picked up the jeans that she'd let fall to the floor next to her bed and slid them on over her tan legs and curvy hips. She buckled them, along with the white belt that was still looped into the jeans, and slid her feet into her tan sandals. She left the black shirt on, but pulled a white sweatshirt-jacket on over it. She hurried over to her mirror and put on a little bit of mascara and lip gloss, ran a brush through her hair, tied it back in a messy bun, and joined Fred outside her door.

"Okay, now what?" She said, closing the door behind her. Fred didn't say a word, he just grinned at her.

"_Fred, where are we going…?"_ Hermione hissed. Fred had her by the hand and was dragging her through Hogwarts. It was dark, but Fred had taken Harry's Invisibility Cloak and used it to cover them. He didn't say anything, but let his hand slip from around her hand to around her waist as he hurried towards his final destination. He turned her down another row of corridors and suddenly stopped.

"Here we are." He said brightly. Hermione looked up and felt herself go weak in the knees. They were standing right outside Dumbledore's office.

"Are you sure you want to do this Miss Granger? Mr. Weasley?" Dumbledore said, looking down at Fred and Hermione as they stood in front of him. Hermione subconsciously slipped her hand into Fred's and he squeezed it lightly.

"Yes sir," They said together. Dumbledore nodded and picked up the book that lay open on the desk in front of him. He started to read allowed, pausing every now and again to let them repeat after him. Finally, he came to a close.

"Do you, Fredrick Michael Weasley take Hermione Emmaline Granger to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold from this day forward, to cherish, love, honor, and obey?" He said in his deep, mystical voice. Hermione already had tears in her eyes.

"I do." Fred said, stealing a glance at Hermione. He winked at her and squeezed both of her hands, which were held tightly in his own. They locked gazes and Hermione was afraid to look away.

"And do you, Hermione Emmaline Granger take Fredrick Michael Weasley to be your lawfully wedded husband from this day forward, to cherish, love, honor, and obey?" Hermione continued to stare into his big green eyes.

"I do." She said with a smile.

"Then you may kiss your bride." Dumbledore said as he closed the book and placed it on his desk in front of him. Fred grinned and stepped forward, pulling Hermione towards him. She hesitantly looked up at him as he lowered his lips to hers and gave her the kiss of her life. She had never in all her years of dating, kissing, and living been kissed in the way that Fred Weasley was kissing her. She slipped her arms around his middle as he covered her mouth with his own. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her close to him. When he finally broke the kiss, he continued to hold her close and squeezed her tightly and kissed the top of her head. As he stepped away, Hermione almost lost her footing and fell over. Fred barely caught her. He laughed as she straightened up, blushing.

"I guess the words 'swept you off your feet' take on a new meaning don't they 'Mione?" He kissed her hand and whispered, "Wait for me by the door." As she past Dumbledore to the door, he smiled at her and winked.

"You've done a good thing." He whispered, then hugged her warmly. Hermione had never felt so happy in her whole life. Fred had a quick word with Dumbledore before she watched as Dumbledore hugged Fred as well. He grinned at Dumbledore quickly before rushing over and taking Hermione by the hand.

"C'mon Love, let's go."

He led her out of the castle and down towards the lake, where he slipped his cloak off his shoulders and spread it down on the ground. He sat on it, and pulled Hermione down with him, slipping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her close to him to keep her warm. She reached over and took his other hand in her own, looking at it, and gazing at the plain silver ring on his left ring finger.

"I can't believe we did it." She whispered, running her fingers over the top of his hand.

"I know…who'd have thought this time last week that we'd be married to each other?" He replied opening his hand and letting her turn it over to run her fingers over his palm. She suddenly closed her small hand over his and turned to face him. His arm fell from her shoulders when she moved.

"Fred, do you think this will work?" She asked calmly. He could take one look at her and tell that there was only a trace of doubt in those big brown eyes, a trace that would be dispelled with one word from him.

"I don't know…but I sure as hell hope so." He said, and it just felt right for Hermione to move towards him and let him wrap his strong arms around her as she buried her face in his neck. They sat that way for a long time, and it was only when the sun had started to rise that Fred decided Hermione needed to go back inside to bed.

"You're going to need rest. The next few days are going to be tough for you. I have no doubt people will have questions about this…" He said fingering her wedding ring, a simple silver band with a small jade colored stone set in the center, with a smaller white diamond on either side. It was unique…as fitted Hermione. She agreed and Fred helped her up and walked with her up to the castle, holding her hand in his and smiling at her. They walked in the doors to the castle, through the corridors, and up to Gryffindor Tower. Hermione didn't want him seen inside, so they decided to wait outside the portrait.

"I'll start looking for an apartment for us to live in…" Fred said. With him about to leave, it seemed awkward and both didn't want be without the other for much longer. They'd become very close friends; Hermione felt as if she knew Fred more than she knew Harry and Ron put together. She was definitely going to miss him. She threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his neck once again. He lifted her off the ground and squeezed her tightly. As he set her on the floor once again, he pecked her on the cheek and waited for her to climb into the portrait hole.

"Write me…" She whispered as she went in, "And I'll see you during Winter Vacation…" She waved as the portrait hole swung shut behind her.

"Move on then, you…ah…Fred Weasley…I should've known you'd come back and wake me up once again!" The Fat Lady called down to Fred from her frame. "Always sneaking out to the kitchens late at night and coming in early in the morning…it's no wonder I never got any sleep!"


	11. Fights and Friendships

(((A/N: Okay--quick thing. Lavender and Hermione have a history of dislike...Lavender is kind of--a biotch in my story. Sorry bout the language--but theres no other way to put it. She is. Get over it. Tough Love. Love ya'll! Enjoy the reading! 33)))

As Hermione walked into her room that night and started to undress, a voice stopped her.

"Where have you been?" Hermione whipped her head around and looked through the darkness into the direction of Ginny's bed, where the voice had come from.

"I went down to the kitchens to get something to eat…" Hermione said, turning her back to Ginny and pulling her shirt over her head. She tucked it in her drawer and pulled out a fresh one to sleep in. Tugging it over her head, she heard Ginny's reply.

"No…I was down there earlier and you weren't there. And I know you weren't out with Ron or Harry, because you would've let me know. And I know_…_I_ know…_you didn't sneak out with one of my older brothers at two o'clock in the morning…I _know_ you wouldn't do that without at least telling me first…I _know_….Hermione? What's going on?" Hermione hesitated as she slipped off her jeans and pulled on an old pair of boxers she usually slept in. She turned and walked towards Ginny's bed and sat on the edge.

"Gin, I…we…I did what I had to do." Ginny looked as though she was about to cry. She pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged them to her.

"I don't understand…" She said, staring at Hermione with a confused and hurt expression on her face. Hermione reassuringly put her hand on Ginny's knee.

"I can't expect you to…" She said wearily. She leaned over and gave Ginny a quick squeeze around the shoulders before standing up and climbing into her own bed. Before she rolled over and fell asleep, she heard a voice floating over from Ginny's bed.

"…I wish you would trust me…"

* * *

The next morning, Hermione was so tired she literally had to drag herself down the stairs and into the Great Hall. She knew she looked horrible, but she didn't particularly care. She slid into a seat next to Ginny and grabbed the glass of Orange Juice that had materialized in front of her like it did every morning. She was so focused on drinking her juice and keeping her eyes open at the same time, which was hard to do since she was so tired, she didn't notice three sets of eyes openly staring at her.

"Hermione?" She finally snapped out of her daze long enough to notice that Harry, Ginny, and Ron were staring at her.

"Oh, erm…good morning." She muttered, draining the rest of the juice from her glass and placing it on the table. She put her elbow on the table and propped her head up on the table.

"Morning." They all said together, still staring at her.

"'Mione, are you sure you're alright…you look kind of—tired." Ron said, reaching across the table and covering Hermione's hand with his own. Hermione snatched her hand away and placed it in her lap. The sudden action shocked Ron, and Hermione could tell his feelings were slightly hurt.

"She had a late night last night…" Ginny said, her expression not changing at all. Harry turned his head and looked at her, a question on his face.

"What--?" He started to ask, but Hermione stopped him.

"Ginny—" She started, but hissed the rest under her breath "—not another word." Ginny paled and took her eyes from Hermione, focusing whole-heartedly on her own plate of breakfast. Harry and Ron gave her an odd look, but continued on with their own breakfast. Ginny didn't say another word the rest of the meal. The tension was so thick, it could be cut with a knife. Hermione forced herself to participate in Ron and Harry's small talk, and managed to stay awake for the whole meal. She planned on skipping Herbology (she'd never skipped a class before) and going back to bed before Potions. Five minutes before breakfast was over, she heard movement behind her.

"Hiya Harry…" Lavender Brown stood behind her, smiling coyly at Harry. Her gaze hesitantly left Harry and moved around the table, greeting everyone else. "Ron, Ginny…" Her eyes looked down and rested on Hermione and she broke into a devilish smile. "Hermione! I'm surprised you're down at breakfast this morning!"

"Lavender, I'm at breakfast every morning." Hermione said coolly. She turned around and stood up so that she was eye to eye with Lavender.

"Yes well…I wasn't sure if you would be…seeing as you had a late night last night." Hermione was thankful her back was to Harry and Ron, so they wouldn't see the look of surprise on her face.

"I…" She stuttered out. She felt Ginny stand next to her, and was instantly glad Ginny was there to back her up.

"Lavender…don't you have to be somewhere?" Ginny said. Hermione saw out of the corner of eye that Ginny's face was turning pink…a sure sign of anger.

"Yes…my friends are waiting for me by the Main Doors." She smiled at Ron and then turned to Harry, smiling coyly and giving him a sultry wink. "Seeya Harry…" She smirked at Ginny and Hermione before she started to walk away. Harry rolled his eyes at her retreating figure and faked a gag. Lavender however, didn't notice. She took about five steps away from Hermione, then swung around and pulled her hand up to rest on her hip. She stared at Hermione and said loudly. "Hermione! Next time you go out with Fred Weasley at two in the morning—be sure to tell him I said hello!" She smirked again at the shocked faces of Hermione, Ginny, Harry, and Ron….along with all the others at the Gryffindor and Slytherin tables that had her, then walked off and out the Main Doors.

* * *

"Hermione…don't worry. Lavender was just trying to ruffle your feathers is all…don't listen to her." Ginny pulled Hermione's hair back from her face and rubbed her back soothingly. Hermione was draped across her bed, lying on her stomach, as silent as the grave. She wasn't moving; she wasn't talking, she wasn't even responding to anything Ginny said. The minute Lavender had left; Hermione had picked herself up and walked out of the Great Hall as if in a daze. The room was silent as she made her way out. The minute the doors closed behind her, however, it erupted into a loud roar of stories and expectations and theories about why she was with Fred at such an odd hour. Ginny had grabbed her things and dashed out of the room to find Hermione, followed closely by Harry and Ron. Ginny had hurried up to the Girls' Dormitories, leaving the boys to wait in the empty common room. She'd found Hermione on the bed, hugging a pillow and staring blankly at the wall. She hadn't moved, and Ginny had been speaking to her for almost ten minutes, trying to soothe her.

"I know I don't have much of a place to ask this…but…why was Fred--?" Ginny faded off, afraid to finish her question. Hermione finally blinked and looked at her, sitting up and hugging the pillow tighter. She stared at Ginny for a minute, then turned her face away and looked at the ground.

"We're married." Hermione said matter-of-factly. Ginny couldn't help but let her jaw drop. Her eyes bugged out of her head and her mouth fell open.

"You're serious?" Ginny said, already knowing Hermione was telling the absolute truth. Hermione nodded. "How long?"

"Just since last night…but Ginny—please don't tell Ron yet; or Harry—or anyone. Please—I want to speak to Fred about this…I don't know if he wants your family to know yet…at least not until he's told George. He'll want George to know first. George would get very offended if he wasn't told first---" Hermione knew she was rambling, but she didn't really care.

"Okay." Ginny said, and Hermione was surprised at her easy acceptance of the marriage.

"Are you serious? You're not angry with me?" Hermione said, letting the pillow fall to the floor.


	12. Catfights and Kisses

A:N/ Sorry this has taken so long to update, I've been out of town on vacation and then when I got back, I just couldn't get into the swing of the story. This isnt my best work, but hopefully you'll like it just the same, and I can get back on the ball and finish this baby up. Thank you all so much. Enjoy the Read.

* * *

"Of course I'm not angry at you Hermione…" Ginny said, scooting closer to her on the bed. "You made a choice. Sure, it was an—odd one—but it was still a choice _you_ had to make. I trust you…even if you are crazy enough to marry Fred." Ginny smiled and her joke made Hermione give a slight giggle. That sat in silence for awhile, thinking, until Hermione looked at Ginny and squeaked:

"Did I make a mistake?" Ginny could see the fear in Hermione's eyes, and wanted to do the best she could to calm her.

"Does he make you happy?"

"Yes."

"Has he ever hurt you in _any_ way?"

"No!"

"Do you love him?" Ginny raised her eyebrows at Hermione's minor hesitation. Then a dawning look passed over Hermione's face and the corners of her mouth turned up.

"Yeah…I do." She said, blushing slightly and messing with the corner of the quilt on her bed. Ginny grinned and hugged her.

"Then you haven't made any kind of mistake." Ginny smiled. They talked for awhile about trivial things...Ginny did her best to keep Hermione's mind off of Lavender. A few minutes past, and Ginny remembered.

"Oh—I forgot to tell you earlier…I broke up with Seamus."

"WHY?" Hermione jumped up off the bed in surprise. "But you two were in love! You were—what—why!"

"It just wasn't working…if I loved him as much as I claimed, I wouldn't be as unhappy as I've been. I mean—I was constantly worried about him…my world revolved around what Seamus would do…then he started pulling the jealousy treatment on Harry, and I found him flirting with Lavender the other day and I couldn't stand it anymore. I broke up with him the day before yesterday. I was going to tell you last night, but you were—ahem—'detained'."

"Erm—sorry I wasn't there."

"That's alright, you're here now, and everything is going to be okay. No worries?"

"No worries…" Hermione said, with a worried expression. Ginny slapped her hand and Hermione laughed as she realized what she was doing. She relaxed, and the two girls fell back onto the bed and laughed.

* * *

The weeks leading up to Winter Vacation were tough for Hermione. Of course, everyone had questions about what Lavender had said, but Ginny, Harry, and even Ron guarded Hermione beautifully, fending off their questions and keeping Hermione from going insane. Ginny continued to be the sole keeper of Hermione and Fred's secret, and Harry and Ron continued to wonder what was going on. One morning, Harry and Ginny were standing outside the Great Hall waiting for Ron and Hermione to arrive, when Lavender spotted them. She quickly approached with her arm hooked through the crook of Seamus'.

"Hiya Harry!" She said loudly, of course, attracting attention.

"Hey Lavender—Seamus." He nodded at them both respectively and turned to walk away. Lavender grabbed his arm.

"Oh Harry, you're not mad at me on account of that silly little stunt Hermione pulled are you? Because I'd hate it if you were mad…" She got right up under him and batted her long lashes at him. When that didn't illicit a response, she turned and jerked Seamus forward.

"Look—this is my new _boyfriend_…" She shot at him, glancing at Ginny and smirking. Ginny's mouth dropped open slightly, but it wasn't noticed by anyone other than Harry. She rolled her eyes up towards the ceiling and sighed.

"C'mon Harry." She slipped her hand effortlessly into his and gave it a gentle tug. Harry followed her silently, up until they reached the Great Hall doors. Harry then stopped, and when Ginny turned to see why, she was surprised to see Harry's free hand come up and cup the side of her face as he planted a soft and gentle kiss on her lips. When he pulled away, she grinned up at him and turned to go into the Great Hall. As the doors were closing behind them, they glanced over their shoulders at Lavender, who was throwing a hissy fit in the hall.

* * *

Not surprisingly, when Harry had planted the nonchalant kiss on Ginny's lips that day in the Great Hall, people saw and rumors flew. The-Boy-Who-Lived had a new girlfriend—his best friend's little sister. It didn't surprise anybody of course; at least not for long…Ginny Weasley was an obvious choice for Harry Potter. Several girls were upset of course, because they had high hopes for catching Harry and pinning him down. The boys were frustrated, because although Ginny's family was fairly poor, she was a real beauty and a real sweet kid, and several of the available boys in Hogwarts had had their eyes on her for a long time. But sadly for them, she'd been attached to Seamus until recently, and it looked like she was unavailable once again. When Ron heard the rumors the next day, he immediately hunted down Harry and Ginny, who were sitting together in the Great Hall eating breakfast and laughing about people's wild stories. When they saw him coming; red faced and angry eyed, they knew they were about to get it. Harry smiled up at Ron as he saw him coming and started to greet him.

"Hey Ron, where've you---"

"What's this I hear about you and my sister?" Ron said—directly and to the point.

"Ron—that's none of your concern." Ginny said, putting her hand on Harry's shoulder and standing up.

"What do you mean it's none of my concern! You're my little sister and I don't know if I'm comfortable with you dating my best friend!" He said passionately. Ginny turned red and placed her free hand on her hip.

"Ronald Weasley—last time I checked I was sixteen years old and not in need of you or anyone else dictating who I can and cannot see. You should be glad that I decided to date one of your friends. You know more than anyone else that Harry is a good person and would never intentionally try to hurt me. Please don't pretend like you are my lord and master and try to tell me what I can and cannot do ever again. C'mon Harry…let's get out of here." Ginny said, and Harry stood up next to her, although he hesitated.

"Ron—look I—" He placed a hand on Ron's shoulder and squeezed in a brotherly attempt to make him feel better.

"Go with her—I'll deal with you later." Ron said huffily. Harry got a pained look on his face, but took Ginny's hand and led her out the doors to the Great Hall.

* * *

They made their way out to the Quidditch pitch, which was deserted this early in the morning.

"Ginny? What was that all about! Now he's angry at us, and we aren't even dating!" Harry said, turning around to Ginny and running a hand through his already tousled hair.

"And how do you think he'd feel if he found out you kissed me and we _**weren't** _dating? He would've beaten the crap out of you!" Ginny said, flopping down on one of the benches and putting her face in her hands.

"We've made a fine mess out of this, we have." She moaned. "What are we going to do?"

"Yeah—fine, I have no idea." He muttered, sitting next to her. He glanced over at her and shrugged slightly, putting his arm around her back. Surprisingly for him, she sat up and sat her head in the pocket between his neck and his shoulder. "Unless…" He said after a minute or two.

"Unless what?" She said, looking up at him.

"Unless we…but you wouldn't want to…"

"Harry…"

"Why don't we—why can't you—Ginny, would you like to be my girlfriend?" He said. Ginny looked at him with her mouth hanging open. Harry smiled down at her as he took the side of his pointer finger and gently pushed her lower jaw up to meet her upper. Her mouth closed with a soft 'click'. After a moment, Ginny tilted her head slightly to the side and breathed—

"Have you lost your mind?"


	13. Surprise and SoLong

"We are _so_ dead." Hermione muttered. She and Ginny were sitting in the last compartment of the Hogwarts Express, on their way to Platform 9 ¾. Hermione was having conflicting emotions; they were so bad in fact, that she felt as though she were going to be sick. She was scared to death of seeing Mrs. Weasley again, and her finding out about Hermione and Fred's…unusual marriage. But then again, she couldn't _wait_ to see Fred. She'd been missing him so much in the past few weeks, that she didn't know what to do. Ginny on the other hand, was just down and out **scared**. She had agreed to be Harry's girlfriend, and she loved it. Harry was just sweet enough to make her feel special, but just open and direct enough to put her in her place when she got out of it. They got along great, and she was shocked that she had been blind enough all along to realize how perfect they really were for each other. But then again, nobody knew about her and Harry, and she dreaded the 'I-told-you-so' comments she'd receive from her family. So she and Hermione sat in the back of the Hogwarts Express, alone and afraid, clasping each others hands for support. Each girl was lost in her own thoughts when the compartment door slid open. The noise startled Hermione and made her jump.

"What the—" She yelped, standing up. Ginny just stared up at the door, as usual in complete control.

"Hey Girls." Harry said, swinging down and sitting next to Ginny, pecking her quickly on the cheek. He felt Ron staring daggers into his back, so he kept a little bit of room between he and Ginny and resisted the urge to put his arm around the back of her seat and let her lean on him. He contented himself with holding her hand. Ron followed him in and sat across from Ginny, arms crossed in front of him, and a small scowl on his face. Hermione sat next to him, and rolled her eyes.

"Oh Ron, grow up. They are _dating,_ they are allowed to touch. They aren't four years old and Ginny does _not_ need your permission to have a boyfriend!" She snapped at him. He stared at her with his mouth hanging open for awhile, then lowered his arms and sat with his hands in his lap, fiddling with his fingers. They rode in an unbroken silence the rest of the way to the station. Hermione groaned quietly as they pulled up to the platform.

"God please let them understand…" She muttered under her breath.

"What was that Hermione?" Ron asked, leaning towards her until he was too close for comfort.

"Nothing Ron, n-nothing…"

* * *

The minute she stepped off the train she saw him. He was standing apart from his family—only about three or four feet, but just the same. Hermione saw him and a wave of emotion came over her. _Finally_, she thought. Without even thinking, she hurried in his direction. He met her halfway and she dropped her bags on the floor to throw her arms around his neck. He picked her up and swung her around. She giggled and smiled and could hardly contain how happy she was to see him. As he lowered her to the ground, she looked over his shoulder and saw the Weasley family (plus Harry) standing there and staring at her and Fred. She smiled, waved, and she and Fred grabbed her bags and ran out of the station to his car. 

"What the hell was that?" Ron finally broke the silence. He was standing in the middle of the Weasley group, surrounded by Harry, Ginny, George, Percy, Charlie, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and Bill.

"R-Ronald Weasley--" Mrs. Weasley started to yell at him for cursing, but stopped in mid-sentence.

"Wow…" Charlie and Bill said at the same time. Mr. Weasley just turned a bright red color. George looked perfectly normal. Harry looked down at Ginny and saw the lack of surprise on her face. He slipped his arm around her waist and leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"They're perfect together aren't they? Maybe this'll be like the honeymoon they never had." She started to nod, smiling slightly, but then the smile vanished as a thought hit her.

"HARRY! How did you know they got---" She looked up at him with wide eyes. Harry nudged his head towards the rest of her family, and made a discreet motion across his lips, signaling her he'd tell her later. Before she could pressure him into telling her, Mrs. Weasley descended on them, swooping both of them up in her arms. She had obviously recovered from the shock of seeing Hermione and Fred very quickly.

"Ginny! Harry! Welcome home!" Ginny glanced over at Harry and gave him a half smile.

"Um, Mum…I—we need to tell you something."

* * *

"Fred!" Hermione laughed after he threw her bags into the back of the car and joined her next to the passenger door. "I should _not_ have flown at you like that…" 

"I'm glad you flew at me…fly at me again." He said, with a 'Weasley' lopsided grin on his face. Hermione giggled.

"Oh Fred," She said quietly as she threw her arms around his neck and he spun her around again. She was reluctant to let go, but knew she had to. Fred smiled down at her as he opened the door and held it as she climbed inside. He slammed it closed once she'd cleared it and ran around to climb in the driver's seat. Once he'd gotten his seat belt buckled and the car started, he reached over and held Hermione's hand.

"You're my best friend Hermione...apart from George, of course." He said quietly.

"And you're mine…apart from Ginny, of course." She smiled back at him. He gave her hand a quick squeeze as they drove off.

They drove for maybe a half hour before Fred turned into a short driveway.  
"Here it is Hermione…our new home." Hermione looked up at the house in front of her. It was amazing. It was small, but big enough for two people. It was painted white, with a white picket fence all around it, and a garden out front. Amazingly, it was two stories. She slid out of the car and walked around to the hood and leaned on it; Fred joined her.

"It's—wow, Fred." She smiled as he looked up at the house with her, obviously proud.

"C'mon…" He said after a minute. "Let's go inside."

* * *

"Oh Ginny!" Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Ginny, and Harry were sitting in the living room of the Burrow. Ginny sat on the sofa next to Harry, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley sat across from them. Ginny had just told her parents about she and Harry….and her parents couldn't have been more thrilled. 

"Oh Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley said again, swooping down and throwing her arms around them both. "This is such _good_ news! I'm so happy!" She laughed and giggled and looked like a little girl on Christmas Day. "Oh! I am so—Harry you wonderful boy!" She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek with a loud _'**smack'**_. Harry, of course, immediately turned beet red. Ginny smiled over at him and discreetly slipped her hand in his while Mrs. Weasley went on, and Mr. Weasley sat with a slight smile on his lips.

"Molly." He said finally, standing and putting a hand on her waist. "Could you and Ginny leave Harry and I alone for a minute? I want to talk to him." Mrs. Weasley nodded and hustled Ginny out of the room. She looked over her shoulder and mouthed at Harry, _'I'm sorry!'_ just as she and her mother turned the corner. Mr. Weasley stood in the middle of the living room for a moment after the ladies left, gathering his thoughts; then he turned and sat on the sofa next to Harry. He clapped his hand down on Harry's shoulder and sighed.

"Now, Harry. I know you know that I'm going to give you the line about Ginny being my little girl, and she's the only one I have and I don't want her getting hurt…but there's something more I want you to know. You are like a son to me already—you've been around so long, I think of you as one of my own…especially since James—and Lily—and…well you're like one of mine. I would _hate_ to have to kill one of my sons…but if you hurt my little girl…that just may happen." All the blood drained from Harry's face and he turned deathly pale before he looked up at Mr. Weasley and found out he was joking…or at least…Harry _thought_ he was joking…..


	14. Secrets and Stories

"Oh Fred! It's wonderful!" Hermione squealed after Fred took her on the full fledged tour. The house was perfect. On the first floor, when you walked through the front door you stepped into the living room. Branching off the living room was a spacious kitchen, fit with all necessary appliances, a sun porch, complete with rocking chairs and flowers, a bathroom, and an outdoor deck. On the second floor were the master bedroom and a second bedroom, as well as another bathroom. It was a small house, and wasn't fancy at all, but it was perfect and simple and Hermione loved it. They walked back out to the car so they could get Hermione's bags and they could get her unpacked. Hermione turned back to look at her small cottage. It was perfection in itself, and she just wondered how Fred knew _exactly_ what she wanted. He grabbed her bags and slammed the back doors as Hermione grabbed her purse and small case that'd she'd had in the front with her and he took her hand and led her inside. Fred put her in the master bedroom and said:

"I thought you'd like this room…I'm going to be in the second bedroom, so…" Hermione had never seen Fred turn this pink. She laughed and agreed that using both bedrooms would be good for now.

"Well, we should probably be heading to the Burrow now…we've got a lot of explaining to do…"

"Yeah…let's go." She took Fred's hand and they walked towards the fireplace.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the Burrow, Mrs. Weasley sat in the kitchen with Mr. Weasley, George, and Ginny. She stood up to stir a pot of soup on the stove with her wand, tasted it, shook her head, added a few ingredients, then returned to her seat. She sighed.

"I wonder what's keeping Fred and Hermione…they had plenty of time to be here and all the way back to Kings Cross by now! I hope they're alright…." George shot a look at Ginny and noticed her turn her face away from her mother and bite her bottom lip. George took one last swallow of his coffee and put the mug in the sink.

"No idea. Ginny, can you come upstairs for a second? I want to talk to you about this whole Harry thing." He motioned with his head towards the stairs. "C'mon…" He said quieter. Ginny nodded and followed him up the stairs. He went into his room and shut the door behind him. He looked at his watch, glanced at the fireplace in the corner of his and Fred's room and glanced at his watch again.

"Are you waiting for something?" Ginny said impatiently, expecting him to start harping on how Harry better keep his hands to himself. George nodded.

"Should be here soon…" He muttered.

"Are you going to yell at me about Harry or not?" Ginny asked impatiently.

"Harry? Oh—no, of course not. That was just an excuse to get you away from Mum…we need to talk. Actually, go on and get Harry." She left the room and found Harry, who was reading in Ron's room waiting for Ron to get back from degnoming the garden.

"Hey babe---George wants you." She whispered. He grinned up at her, folded over the page in his book, hopped off the bed and led her by the hand back to George's room.

"Ah!" Ginny jumped as she walked in the room and saw not only George, but Fred and Hermione as well. George was sitting on his bed, Fred and Hermione sat close together on Fred's, and Ginny and Harry soon took seats on the floor. Ginny leaned back against Harry's knees and closed her eyes and relaxed as he ran his fingers up and down her arms.

"I guess you guys are wondering…" Fred started, tightening his grip on Hermione's hand.

"No—wait. Katie isn't here yet." George said, glancing at his watch again. As he did so, great green flames ignited and Katie stepped shyly out of the fireplace. She waved at everyone and stepped lightly over Harry and Ginny towards George, curled up next to him on the bed and George nodded.

"Okay. Here we all are. The Weasley—erm, 'couples'? Let's see…we know Ginny and Harry know about Fred and Hermione, Fred you know about me, I know about you two, Katie is clueless and I'm assuming so is Hermione." George blurted out. There was a chorus of---

"What?"

"Huh?"

"What in Merlin's name—"

"Did you get in the Canderflorm again?"

"Hold on!" Fred said, putting up his hands. "I'm the only one who knows everything that is going on. Let me tell the story." Everyone seemed to agree and settled back to listen.

"Okay, here's where it starts.

After George ran off with Katie in October, he and I learned that our parents had entered us into Wizarding Contracts. You see, when George and I were born, according to our parents, Narcissa Black came to visit them. She had a chat with our father and mother, and they agreed to have us bound into Wizarding Engagement Contracts—for some bogus reason. George was supposed to marry her cousin Antigone Reid; and I was supposed to marry Antigone's sister, Nicola Reid. Well, of course, we were both horribly upset at the prospect of marrying anyone associated with Narcissa—especially the Reid sisters. We also found that Katie was bound in a contract as well. We, well, George and I, started looking for loopholes. And I found one. It involved George and I finding our 'matches'—the two girls put on earth strictly for George and I. They weren't hard to find. There's a witch in Dagon Alley that tells what your heart most desires. We went to see her, asking if she could help us. She said she could, and soon she had told us…or at least helped us figure out who our match was. She told George that he had already found his match—she was waiting patiently for him to come rescue her from the one who could steal her away…we took this to mean Katie was waiting for him so they could break the contract with Michael. George immediately left—knowing Katie was the girl for him and they eloped once again and succeeded this time. I—on the other hand—was much more difficult. I had hardly any previous relationships—none of which were serious enough for marriage, and I had no current interests. Well…none that I had acted on anyway. The witch asked me over and over again if I'd ever been in love…if I fancied anyone in anyway at all right now. I kept replying that I did not. Finally she looked me in the eyes and calmly shook her head. 'You lie.' She said. She was right—I was. I had fancied one girl for—oh three years—and never had the nerve to ask her out. See—she was my brother's best friend…" Fred looked over and squeezed Hermione's hand…smiling. He'd tried so hard to go for the "just friend's approach…" but he just had a feeling now that Hermione loved him as much as he loved her, and all he could think about was proving how in love he really was.

"…she told me that I should act on my feelings. That this girl—"the smart, coy beauty with unknown spirit" as she said—was my match, and that she really liked me as much as I fancied her. So I wrote Hermione and asked her to help me—to marry me. She agreed for reasons unknown to both of us. We ran off and were married by Dumbledore a few months ago. We've been hiding it from everyone. Finally a few weeks ago I cracked—I couldn't bear to keep secrets from George, other than one. I had been keeping secret the feeling I felt for Hermione for so long I didn't know how I was going to tell him. But I did—and he understood. And I heard that Hermione told Ginny as well. So our secrets have been kept well until tonight. And George, Katie, Hermione and I have decided that we're telling our parents tonight. Hermione and I have bought a house and we'll be staying there. George and Katie are going to live in the flat above the store. I have only one question—Harry, how did you find out about Hermione and me?" Everyone was silent and turned to look at Harry. He shrugged.

"I was there when you were married." Hermione's jaw dropped and Fred's eyebrows rose.

"No…" Hermione whispered.

"Yes." Harry replied. "You forgot…every marriage needs a witness. Dumbledore sent for me while Fred was getting Hermione. He told me to bring my Invisibility Cloak and stand in the corner while you two were wed, then sign the certificate after you left. Then he swore me to secrecy. He didn't want to betray your trust Fred…and I know that he knew he could trust me. I am Dumbledore's top admirer, and no one would keep his secrets—and the secrets of his best friends…" He nodded at Hermione, "…better than me." Everyone nodded and Fred choked slightly.

"Thanks Harry."

"Anytime Fred—anytime." They all sat together in silence for a moment. After a few minutes, Ginny suddenly sat up and threw her hands up to her face.

"Oh no! Ron is the only one who doesn't know—other than Mum and Dad! He'll be crushed!" The door blasted open suddenly and Ron stood there, face pale, and hands in fists— shaking.

"Don't worry…he knows." He whispered, then before anyone could stop him, had jumped out the window, landing on his broom, and took off to no-one-knew-where.


	15. Anger and Attacks

"Damn!" Harry cursed as he ran towards the window that Ron had just disappeared through. He looked out towards the ground, scanned the horizon, and came to the conclusion that Ron had disappeared into thin air, then pulled his head back in the window and turned to face his friends. "Gone…" He croaked. They all squirmed uncomfortably and Hermione let out a short moan.

"Oh Fred…" She said, burying her face in his chest. She'd been so happy finding out that Fred really did love her tonight…then to realize what she'd done to Ron…the roller coaster of emotion was just too much. Fred wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. Ginny went up to Harry and, seeing his anguish over hurting his friend, brushed his wild hair away from his face. He brought his hand up towards his face to clasp hers and gently pulled it down to rest on his chest, where he let it go and crushed her against him in a tight hug. George and Katie stood apart from the rest, holding hands and feeling obviously awkward. Fred was the one who broke their silence.

"We can't stand around waiting for him to get back. We've got to go tell Mum and Dad." Everyone else agreed and they followed Fred down the stairs to where Mr. and Mrs. Weasley sat side by side on the sofa in the living room. Mrs. Weasley took one look at everyone's pained faces and knew something was wrong.

"What's going on--?" She stopped as her children and their partners gathered tightly around her and sat down. Fred stood next to the sofa, and Hermione perched herself on the arm of it. George stood on Mr. Weasley's other side, and Katie stood next to him. Mrs. Weasley seemed to think nothing of Katie appearing out of nowhere. Ginny and Harry sat at their feet.

"We've got to tell you something…" Fred said, and then launched into his story of marriage, love, and risk. The farther along into the story he progressed, the paler Mrs. Weasley got. Finally, Fred closed his story, ending with Ron jumping out the window thirty minutes previously and hopping on his broom, flying out to Merlin-knew-where.

"So you two—" Mrs. Weasley pointed at Fred and Hermione, "—and you two—" she pointed at George and Katie, "are married? And Ginny and Harry knew all along?" Everyone nodded in agreement. Mrs. Weasley seemed too shocked to speak. "I d-don't know what to say…what to think…" She stuttered out. Mrs. Weasley got up and walked out of the room, obviously angered or hurt, or both. Mr. Weasley sat there and smiled weakly at his children, then pondered in silence. There was silence in the room until Mrs. Weasley's panicked voice came from the kitchen.

"Arthur! Arthur! Quickly—look at the clock!" Everyone hurried into the kitchen where the Weasley's extraordinary clock stood on the wall. The Weasley's hands all pointed to the same place—_Home_; except for one—Ron's—which stood at _Mortal Peril_.

* * *

Ron had flown with a crazed fervor. He just wanted to get as far away from those—people he used to call his friends—as possible. He flew at top speed, not caring who saw him or where he was going. Finally, after about twenty minutes it started to rain.

"Shit!" Ron cursed, throwing his cape hood over his head and speeding up on his broom. He saw a patch of trees down below, so he took off towards them, searching for shelter from the rain. The thunder and lightening was deafening. He smashed through the trees; finally hitting the ground with enough force that shoots of pain flew up his legs and crashed into his hips.

"Ugh!" He yelled as he rolled off his broom, holding his legs close to him. After awhile, the pain wore off slightly and he felt okay enough to walk, so he grabbed his broom and looked around. He was in a clearing—surrounded by trees and brush. He pulled his wand out from his jacket.

"_Lumos_," he said quietly, then walked towards a thinner patch of trees. He looked into the forest, but saw nothing. He decided he might as well wait out the rain here, so he took off his cape and spread it on the ground, pulling his broom up next to him; he leaned against a tree and stretched out on the ground. He closed his eyes and started thinking. He had been shocked when he walked by his brothers' rooms to hear voices coming from inside. He was muddy, dirty, tired and spent from degnoming the garden, and he had been looking forward to a hot shower and a nice chat with his friends. That had all changed when he stopped in front of Fred and George's door. He was just about to open the door; he had his hand on the knob, when he heard Fred's voice:

"….I had fancied one girl for—oh three years—and never had the nerve to ask her out. See—she was my little brother's best friend…" That was all Ron had needed to hear before he started getting angry. The more Fred went on in detail about his—his _marriage_ to Hermione…the angrier Ron got. Finally, when Ginny made the exclamation that he was the only one left in the dark about everything, he'd exploded and blasted the door open. Fuming. He made his short statement, then ran towards the nearest window, yelling "_Accio Broom!_" He jumped from the window and was out of sight before anyone even noticed he'd gone. Since then, he'd been flying non-stop, trying to release his anger towards Fred for stealing the only girl he'd ever loved…towards Harry for not telling him about it…towards everyone for not involving him. But mostly, he was angry at himself for being so blind. The signs were all there—Hermione's late night excursions, her mood swings, her touchiness every time Fred's name was mentioned, she and Ginny's late night talks—avoiding the Wheezes. Everything pointed to it. He was blind. And worst of all, Hermione and Fred's marriage had started as a hoax, but now it was plain to see that they had fallen in love—head over heels in love. And Ron had come to realize he was the left over. The extra man. Everyone else had a partner—they were all—couples. Ron was alone—again. He was— Ron's eyes jerked open. It was dark—he must have fallen asleep. What had woken him up? Then he realized. The howl. He'd heard a howl…he'd heard something like that once before. When---? He froze. Lupin—the werewolf. Oh god. He scrambled up and grabbed his cloak. He was about to reach for his broom when he heard the trees rattling behind him. He turned to look and saw the huge beast jumping at him. He started to run, then tripped on a root and fell to the ground. He looked worriedly over his shoulder and the last thing he saw before the world went black was the beast's looming face.

* * *

The Weasleys (including Hermione and Katie) and Harry sat tight lipped and feet tapping in the living room of the Burrow. Hermione clutched Fred's hand, while his free arm was wrapped around her back. George had Katie almost sitting in his lap, he was holding her so tightly, and Ginny was sitting on the edge of the armchair Harry occupied, absently tracing the outline of his hand with her finger. Mr. Weasley sat reading his paper (actually he was just staring at it. He'd "read" the same page for the last hour.) and Mrs. Weasley was in the kitchen doing what she did best—cooking up a storm. They were all waiting anxiously for word from Ron. Suddenly, the fireplace roared to life and green flames leapt out of it. Everyone jumped to their feet and gathered around it. Dumbledore's head poked out of the grate.

"Ah, Molly—Arthur—I believe you may want to come with me. Floo to St. Mungo's—I'll be waiting." He disappeared as quickly as he came.

"Ron!" Everyone yelled, then ran around the house, grabbing cloaks, jackets, and scarves, then running to the fireplace where George stood ready with a pot of Floo powder. Mr. Weasley first, then Mrs. Weasley, Fred and Hermione, Ginny and Harry, Katie, and finally George all flooed to St. Mungo's Hospital. The Weasleys (and Harry) waited away from the desk while Mr. and Mrs. Weasley checked to see where Dumbledore was. An older nurse, maybe in her mid-sixties, beckoned for all of them to follow her, and she led them down towards a large elevator. She was small—barely 5 feet tall, with her hair pulled back in a bun at the base of her neck. Her white nurse's robes were spotless and clean and she hummed slightly as she walked. Finally they reached the elevator doors and the nurse punched the "Up" button, then turned to smile at the group behind her. She looked as though she was a schoolteacher taking her class on a field trip instead of a nurse taking a fear-stricken family to see if their relative was dead or not. The elevator finally arrived and everyone climbed in. Hermione read the floor guide quickly as they went into the elevator.

**Artifact Accidents** (_cauldron explosion, wand backfiring, broom crashes, etc_.)—**Ground** **Floor **

**Creature-Induced Injuries **_(bites, stings, burns, embedded spines, etc.)_—**First Floor **

**Magical Bugs **_(contagious maladies, e.g., dragon pox, vanishing sickness, etc.)—_**Second Floor**

**Potion and Plant Poisoning **_(rashes, regurgitation, uncontrollable giggling, etc.)—_**Third Floor**

**Spell Damage **_(unliftable jinxes, hexes, and incorrectly applied charms, etc.)—_**Fourth Floor**

**Visitors' Tearoom and Hospital Shop—Fifth Floor**

The nurse punched a button on the wall of the elevator, which had magically stretched out to accommodate all 9 people, and the elevator rose to the first floor. The nurse held the door as they went out and said in a bright voice:

"Second door on your right—the Dai Llewellyn ward. Professor Dumbledore is waiting for you in there. That man's a saint, he is…been here all night. Brought the boy in on 'is own, and hasn't left his side yet." The little witch nodded gaily and returned to the elevator. As the doors closed, she smiled brightly and waved.

"Such a sweet woman," Mrs. Weasley said before hurrying off to the Dai Llewellyn ward. The rest of the group followed.

"This is the ward Dad was in last year when that snake bit him." Fred whispered in Hermione ear. Her eyes got wide. Surely it must be bad—Mr. Weasley had been in the 'Dangerous' section of the ward. This information washed Hermione over with a new kind of fear. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley instructed everyone to wait outside while they went to talk to Dumbledore inside. Everyone waited impatiently as they stayed in there for almost twenty minutes. They heard a sharp cry from inside—then silence. George hurried towards the door. A few moments later, Mrs. Weasley emerged, obviously shaken. The kids could tell she'd been crying.

"He's—he's been—been bitten." Mrs. Weasley stuttered out.

"By what?" Fred and George said simultaneously, stepping forward.

"A werewolf." Mrs. Weasley said, breaking into a new set of sobs. Everyone was silent except for Ginny and Hermione, whose piercing screams filled the ward and sent them into fits of tears.


	16. Werewolves and Warmth

(((A/N: It's short, I know. I'm sorry, but I've not had much time lately and I got caught between a Rock and a Sticky place and couldn't get loose...I finally broke free and finished the chapter...it's not great, it's not even good, but it's the bestI can do. I hope you like it. It'll probably be the last update for the next couple weeks because I'm going out of town. Thanks for reading! Enjoy!))

* * *

A round of gasps and screams went around the group. Hermione tightened her grip on Fred's hand as Ginny's hands flew up to cover her mouth. Ron and Harry paled and looked faint, while George held Katie as she cried softly. Mrs. Weasley looked as if she wanted to comfort everyone and leave all at once. Soon she just gave up and disappeared back into Ron's room. Everyone had calmed down somewhat by the time Mr. Weasley came out again three hours later. Everyone was lying around on various benches and chairs that were in the hallway. When he emerged from Ron's room, he was pale and tired looking, but there was an air about him that eased everyone else's worry—it must have been a lack of defeat. He walked out slowly and sat on a bench between Harry and Ginny; everyone crowded around him and waited. He ran a tired hand over his tired face and said in a tired voice:

"He'll live." Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. "However—" Mr. Weasley went on, "There will be some…complications." Everyone gathered closer around him and waited with baited breath.

"C-Complications?" Hermione breathed finally, holding tightly to Fred's arm.

"What kind of complications?" George asked.

"He will become a werewolf. During full moons, he will transform into a werewolf. He will be a _creature_ for the rest of his days. However, the doctors have given him a shot of Wolfspan potion they've concocted over the past few years that will keep him from biting and injuring other people; and will fight the desire to hurt people. He'll go through his first transformation in the hospital in a few days. The doctors want him here so he can experience the pain of a transformation and they can monitor him before giving him the proper medication to avoid pain during future transformations. I've owled Remus; he's on his way with Tonks and Mad-Eye. They'll—" Mr. Weasley ran a hand over his face and wearily looked at Hermione.

"Hermione, Harry, Ginny…please, go in there and help him. Talk to him…anything to keep his mind off—this."

"Yes Mr. Weasley."

"Okay Dad." They left Mr. Weasley sitting on a bench surrounded by George, Fred, and Katie. As they passed through the doors to Ron's room, they got a look at him, and all three were stopped dead in their tracks. Ron was lying in his bed. He was pale and his face was drawn. All his features looked sharper and grim in the gloomy light. He looked up at his friends and their shocked faces and quickly lowered his eyes. Mrs. Weasley stood up from where she was sitting next to his bed when she heard them come in and smiled at them.

"Ginny, Harry, Hermione…I'll just get out of your way." She smiled weakly and slipped out the door. Ginny was the first one at Ron's bedside.

"Oh Ron, you always make a mess of simple things like running away, don't you?" She said with a weak laugh and a shaky smile. She watched as a hint of anger flashed through Ron's eyes and disappeared in an instant. He smiled up at his little sister.

"…shut up Brat…" Ginny laughed and soon Harry and Hermione gathered around the bed next to her.

"Hiya Ron." Harry said, smiling down at his best friend and nudging the bed. "You gave us a right good scare. Now we can be the second group of Marauders…me and Hermione and Ginny'll learn to do transformations and we can have some laughs next year at school." Ron grinned up at Harry.

"…I don't know about that…we'll have to—" He broke off and started coughing. "Ugh…it's this damn potion they gave me to stop the itching….which was brought on by the potion they gave me to stop the sneezing…which was brought on by the potion to stop the stinging. I'm just a downright mess." He coughed again and looked at Hermione, whose eyes were wide with apprehension.

"I'm sorry Hermione." Ron said suddenly.

"S-sorry for what?" She mumbled quietly.

"Overreacting. Flying off the handle. Jumping the broom and flying off to places unknown in the middle of the night. Being…what I am." He looked up sharply as Hermione firmly grabbed his hand and straightened up.

"Don't you _ever_ say that again Ronald Weasley. _Never ever_ be ashamed to be who you are. Whether you're Ron the Weasley or Ron the Werewolf, you'll still be my best friend no matter who or what you are. Understood?" He nodded and they smiled at each other. He held his arms out and she bent to them to give him a hug. Once everyone's bonds were reestablished, they grabbed various chairs and stools from around the small room and pulled them close to his bed. They talked about old times, and stories of the Marauders, animals they could transform into, and Ron explained how they were treating him. Soon Mr. Weasley came back in the room and told them that three hours had passed and they'd be returning home. Mrs. Weasley was staying with Ron through the night, but Mr. Weasley was to take the kids on to the Burrow. They said their goodbyes to Ron, and followed Mr. Weasley out to the elevators.

* * *

An hour later, everyone sat in Fred's room on his bed. It was hard to believe that the night before; they had sat on this very bed planning on telling their parents that they were all married. They sat in silence now, as they had been for the last twenty minutes. Finally, Katie leaned over and whispered to George, and they made their excuses, then flooed to their flat in the fireplace. Fred started to tug Hermione's arm, pulling her towards the fireplace, but she stopped him.

"Fred, I need to be here tonight. To stay with my friends…" She said, placing her hand on his arm and looking up at him pleadingly. "Please."

"Okay…do you want me to stay?"

"Yes…thank you Fred, thank you so much." Hermione reached up and pressed her hand to Fred's cheek in a sweet gesture, expressing her thanks. She borrowed a pair of Ginny's pajamas and went back into his room. She crawled into Fred's bed and curled up next to him. Ginny hesitantly waved her wand and a bed appeared which she crawled into with Harry.

"Don't worry; nothing will happen with me in the room." Fred said laughing at Harry's shocked face. Ginny smiled too and snuggled up next to Harry. They were actually quite cute together. They talked until late, and Ginny was the first to fall asleep, and Harry soon after that. Hermione was drifting out when she felt Fred shift slightly. She rolled over onto her back and Fred propped himself up onto his elbow.

"What did I ever do to deserve you?" He said smiling, pushing a piece of hair off her face.

"That's what you get after all those years of pranking first years…you poor, poor man." She murmured sleepily.

"Poor in fortune maybe, but not in luck…I was lucky to be gifted with someone as wonderful as you Hermione." He whispered in her ear. Hermione smiled and a warm, comfortable feeling game over her. She felt loved for the first time in her life. Not the love of parents, or friends…but the kind of love a man feels for a woman. She slipped her hand up so it rested in Fred's, which was thrown lazily over her middle. She only had half a second to enjoy that sensation one gets when realized one is about to be kissed. Fred pressed his mouth hesitantly against hers. As she responded by slipping her free hand up to cup his face, holding it with his ear pressed to her palm, the kiss deepened and Fred became more sure of himself. He pulled his hand up from her waist and ran it through her hair, finding the pillow and balancing on it as he pulled himself on top of her. Their embrace was broken however when they heard movement coming from the foot of the bed where Ginny and Harry were. Fred looked towards the source of the sound and saw Harry facing them lying on his side, grinning and smirking at Fred.

"Nothing will happen?" Harry mouthed, and Fred rolled off Hermione, chuckling quietly. Harry looked over at Ginny, who continued to sleep quietly, and turned over, pulling her close to him. Hermione and Fred broke into a fit of muted giggles at the way they'd been caught. Finally they calmed down, and Fred kissed Hermione one last time before he pulled her closer and they both fell asleep.


	17. Missing and Kissing

Hermione moaned slightly as she felt the bed shift and creak under her. Suddenly, her front, which had up until five seconds ago, been nuzzled comfortably underneath Fred's chin and pressed against his chest, felt cold and alone as he got out of bed.

"Fred?" She mumbled sleepily, sitting up on her elbows and rubbing one of her eyes lazily.

"Harry?" She heard from the foot of her bed. She looked down and Ginny was in the same confused state as she. "What's going on?" Ginny said, sitting up and pulling the sheets up to her chest. Hermione did the same and sat up against her headboard. Fred was pulling on his robe, and Harry was already dressed and at the bedroom door, pulling it open.

"Stay here, I'll be right back," Fred said, touching Hermione's hand quickly as he left the room.

"We'll be back soon." Harry mumbled as he followed Fred. Ginny looked at Hermione with a puzzled expression on her face and Hermione crawled to the foot of her bed and laid down on her stomach.

"What do you think that was about?" She asked, pushing a lock of brown wavy hair back behind her ear and propping her chin up in her hand.

"I don't know," Ginny said, uneasily glancing at the door. "I woke up Harry because I heard Fred moving around…he must have heard something. Fred has ears like a bat…its uncanny really…" She muttered half to Hermione, half to herself. They sat in silence for a few minutes until they heard movement outside their door. Both girls sat up a little straighter. Fred and Harry entered the room. Hermione pushed herself up so she sat on the bed on her knees, and watched Fred as he walked towards her. He yanked off his robe and threw it on the bed, pulled a shirt over his head and spoke to Hermione as he pushed his arms through their holes.

"Ron—is going through his first transformation. Me and Harry—are going with Dad—to the hospital to be there with him. I want you to—stay here. Excuse me, but I don't have time to go in the other room." He pulled his pajama pants off, leaving him standing in nothing but his boxers. Hermione blushed slightly, but didn't say a word. He jerked a pair of jeans on over his boxers and zipped them up.

"But Fred—why can't I come with—" She started to protest. She heard Ginny doing the same thing with Harry.

"Because…Ron might get a little out of hand. We may have to hold him down to keep him from hurting himself. It's not something I want you to see. Thank God he only has to go through this once."

"But—"

"Please Hermione," Fred got on his knees next to the bed and reached under it to grab his shoes. From his position on the floor, he looked up at Hermione and whispered again, "Please." Hermione nodded in submission.

"Okay." One look into those big green eyes and Hermione would give up anything. He smiled up at her and got off the floor, choosing to sit on the side of the bed as he slipped on and laced up his shoes. Hermione wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned her head against his back. When she felt his arms stop moving, she pulled away slightly and looked up at him. "When are you coming back?" She asked quietly.

"I'll be here in the morning when you wake up," He said, pushing her gently back against the pillows and pulling the comforter and sheets up to her chest. He brushed a piece of hair back off her face and leaned down to kiss her softly on the lips. Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck and tried to pull him closer, but he had to go, and too soon he pulled away and slipped quietly out of the room with Harry, turning off the light behind him. Hermione laid in the big bed, made for two, feeling more alone that she had in her whole life. She wanted Fred with her; in this bed next to her. Holding her so close to him it was like they were one person. She heard movement in the dark. She opened her eyes and looked around. She saw Ginny's small figure moving towards her. Ginny climbed into bed next to her and Hermione reached for her hand.

"I want Harry." Ginny whispered, and Hermione could tell she was on the verge of tears.

"I want Fred." She responded and gave Ginny's hand a sympathetic squeeze. The two girls fell asleep each longing for their gentleman's embrace.

* * *

When Hermione woke up the next morning, the big bed was empty, and Ginny was nowhere to be found. Hermione pushed the covers off her legs and swung them over so her feet touched the floor. She got up and padded over to the closet and opened the door, searching for the robe she knew she'd find there. She yawned as she shrugged on Fred's robe and walked down the stairs. When she stepped into the kitchen, the smell of bacon, sausage, pancakes, and juice filled the air and she was immediately reminded of how hungry she was. She hadn't eaten since the day before yesterday. She took a seat next to Ginny at the huge table and piled her plate as she listened to the morning's conversation. 

"…he had a rough night…" Mrs. Weasley was saying from the stove where she was stirring a pot of something. "…Arthur—Dad—came back early this morning just to let me know that he'd had a terrible night of it. So much pain…he almost bit one of the doctors. Luckily everyone in the room was wearing 'Were-Where?' Body Suits, made with anti-bite rubber. Anyway…they should be giving him his medication today, then they'll give him a chance to relax and recuperate from last night and then send him home tomorrow morning by fireplace. It'll be nice having him home again...Ah! Boys! Arthur!" Ginny and Hermione snapped their heads towards the fireplace. Mrs. Weasley told the boys to sit at the table and eat, and Ginny and Hermione immediately scooted away from each other to make room for them. Fred swung his legs over and sat next to Hermione, putting an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close, and kissing her near her ear.

"Morning," He said softly. "Sleep well?" He started piling food on his plate. Mrs. Weasley poured him a cup of juice and sat it next to his plate.

"It would've been better if you were with me." Hermione muttered under her breath, but she had the distinct feeling that Mrs. Weasley had heard her. She blushed slightly and returned to her breakfast. As everyone fell into conversation about Ron and his ordeal, Hermione felt something brush her hand and soon Fred had tugged her hand from where it lay on her lap and pulled it under the table. He held it firmly in his own, stroking his thumb against hers. Hermione looked up at his face, and was amazed that it looked just as devoid of his obvious feeling for her as ever. She smiled and squeezed his hand slightly, and was thrilled to the point of bursting when she felt it squeeze back.

* * *

After breakfast was over and all the things had been cleared away, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley sat at the kitchen table looking wearily at their coffee mugs. Sensing that they needed to be alone, Fred nudged Hermione and led her out of the room and up the stairs. They heard Harry and Ginny in her room "talking" quietly amongst themselves. Fred led her past their door and into Fred's room. They sat on the bed and Fred put his arms around her. 

"Oh Fred…" She moaned into his chest. "Why did everything turn out this way?"

"It'll be okay 'Mione." He whispered in her ear. She looked up at him, tears clinging to her dark lashes and Fred was so overcome with love for her that he wanted those tears to go away and never come back. He lowered his head to hers and kissed her with such an unrestrained passion that it took Hermione aback for a moment. She fell back on the bed and he fell with her. He started to pull away, but Hermione threw her arms around his waist and pulled him back to her. He ran his hands through her hair, down over her shoulders, and slowly made his way past her breasts, her waist, and her hips. His tongue darted in and out of her mouth, seemingly playing a game of 'Come and Get Me' with hers. Just as Fred was easing Hermione's shirt up over her stomach, he heard his door creak open. They sprang apart and looked towards the door. Mrs. Weasley stood there, holding a pile of freshly folded clothes and looking shocked. When she regained her right-mind again, she walked over and put the clothes on Fred's desk, muttering the words, "…forgot you two are married now…I'll knock next time…" and disappeared through the door. Hermione looked at Fred with wide eyes. Fred smiled uneasily at her, looked at the door and back again. Hermione wanted Fred more than she wanted anything in this world. She looked towards the fireplace in the corner of his room and bit her bottom lip. She sat up on all fours on the bed and leaned over to kiss him provocatively on the lips, nipping his bottom lip in her teeth.

"Take me home Fred." She whispered. They shot off the bed, grabbed a handful of Floo Powder each, and they were at their small white house in a matter of moments.


	18. Lonely and Leaving

An hour and a half later, Hermione and Fred lay in their bed in their room, Hermione humming softly while she leaned on his chest and Fred running his fingers lazily through her hair. Hermione laughed suddenly.

"Hm…? What?" Fred asked, looking down at her.

"I just remembered the look on your mother's face when she walked in today…" Hermione giggled again and shifted so that her leg moved softly against Fred's. "I feel bad for scaring her like that…" Fred growled quietly and sat up on his elbow, starting to kiss her neck and jaw line.

"It was definitely worth it though…" He whispered between kisses. Hermione smiled and tilted her head back, grinning like a Cheshire cat. Fred was kissing down her shoulder, towards her belly button when the phone next to their bed rang. "Ignore it…" He breathed into her ear.

"Mmkay…" She closed her eyes and grinned. Fred continued kissing her, and Hermione continued running her fingers through his hair and down his face. But the phone would not be ignored. It continued to ring three more times before Fred groaned and slumped over on the bed next to Hermione. He ran a hand through his hair and buried his face in his pillow as Hermione reached toward the phone and picked it up.

"Hello?" She said into the phone, looking down at the frustrated man next to her and smiling. She reached down and pulled the sheet up to cover her chest.

"Hermione?" Mrs. Weasley's voice came over the line. Hermione's eyes popped open and she unconsciously blushed.

"Y-yes?"

"Um…well I was wondering—we need Fred to go with George and Bill to get Ron…but if you two are busy…" Fred rolled over and sat up, looked over at Hermione and mouthed, _Who is it?_

"H-hold on, I'll ask him." Hermione covered the mouthpiece of the telephone and looked over at Fred. "It's your mum…she wants to know if you'll go help get Ron." Fred rolled his eyes.

"He's coming home by Floo…maybe something changed, I don't know, let me talk to her." Hermione handed Fred the phone and he held it to his ear.

"Yes Mum…no Mum…But I thought—oh. I guess…alright then, I'll talk to you later. I love you too…yes Mum. MUM! I can't really tell you that right now—yes Mum, I am…yes, she's here. Yes Mum. Okay, goodbye." He handed the phone back to Hermione chuckling and shaking his head. Hermione leaned over and put the phone back in the cradle. She leaned back over and laid her head on Fred's shoulder. He put an arm around her drew designs on her arm with his finger.

"Well? What'd she say?" She asked finally after silence from Fred.

"She said that I needn't come in to help Ron that Dad would do it…and she asked if I was using protection." With that last comment, Hermione and Fred both fell into a lapse of giggles and buried themselves under the covers. Hermione nudged Fred and kissed him teasingly on the lips.

"I love you Fred." She whispered.

"Of course you do…now kiss me again you fool woman."

* * *

The last few days of Winter Vacation passed. Christmas came and went. Fred got Hermione a silver necklace with a heart charm on it, which she wore faithfully everyday. She even slept in it. Through the remainder of the vacation, they spent most of their time divided between the Burrow and their bedroom. Ron got gradually better to the point that he was walking around and joking around with everyone again…although he did get tired easily and had to rest often. He also seemed to forget everything that happened to make him angry. He was one of the gang again. His near death experience seemed to have snapped him back to reality and he was happy with his life again. Hermione's happiest moment (other than the ones spent with Fred) was when Ron looked over at her during dinner one day and gave her a big Weasley lopsided grin. Then after dinner he came up to her and Fred and hugged them both, telling them he was happy for them. With Ron's acceptance of their marriage, Fred and Hermione couldn't have been happier. Somehow over the Vacation, they'd evolved from friends who just happened to be married, to an actual married couple; head-over-heels, his-and-her towels, and never-endingly in _love_. And they couldn't have been happier. But, sadly, the day came when Hermione, Ginny, Harry, and Ron all had to return to Hogwarts. The Weasley's that weren't returning to the school took them to the train station the day they were to leave. Hermione and Fred met up with the rest of them at the station, because Hermione had decided to spend her last night at her home with Fred and not at the Burrow for Mrs. Weasley's special farewell party. They had celebrating of their own to do.

* * *

"Hermione!" Harry and Ginny yelled together. Hermione pulled on Fred's arm to hurry him up. He was pushing the cart carrying her trunk and Crookshanks' carrier. Fred slid the cart towards the boy loading trunks onto the train and grabbed Hermione's hand and ran towards the train. There were five minutes before the train left and Hermione needed to get a seat. Harry and Ginny had already gotten on the train and were waiting for her by the door. 

"Bye Fred." She whispered in his ear as he swept her up in a long firm embrace. "I love you."

"I love you too Babe. I'll write and find out your next Hogsmeade weekend. Now go, you'll be late." He kissed her deeply, and pushed her lightly towards the train. She reluctantly climbed a board and waved as the train pulled from the station. When Fred was only a spot in the crowd, and the train station was growing smaller by the second, Hermione sighed sadly and went back to join Ginny, Harry, and Ron in their compartment.

"Aw, Hermione, cheer up." Ginny said encouragingly, scooting closer to Hermione and putting an heartening arm around her waist.

"Yeah, 'Mione…you'll see him in a few weeks. First Hogsmeade weekend is only a month away!" Harry said, finding his way to her other side and patting her back reassuringly.

"And we'll be here for you the whole way." Ron said, leaning forward and giving her hands a cheerful squeeze. Hermione smiled reluctantly. Then she nodded. Then gradually, she gave a pathetic excuse for jovial laughter.

"I'm fine…it's just strange. He's not going to be there when I wake up and—" Harry and Ron recognized the warning signs and jumped out of their seats.

"Now where has that sweets trolley gone? I could sure use a chocolate frog. Lets go find that trolley." Both of the fought to be the first one out the door. Ginny rolled her eyes and playfully smacked Hermione's knee.

"Men…you can't live with them, and you can't live without them." She said gaily.

"You've got that right…" And Hermione gave into her mood and let herself lean against Ginny and cry.


End file.
